We’ve all seen it. The bloggers holding their iced lattes in a plastic cup. One that will eventually end up in a landfill after being tossed into the trash. They’ll get another one tomorrow. And the next day… and the next day… and so on. I used to be one of them. But today, I’m putting my foot down. I’m deciding to say “no” to single-use plastics. Read more about my decision below.
Why I’m Quitting Single-Use Plastics
Plastic is a giant problem for us, not just in the U.S., but globally. It is degrading our environment, killing marine life, and even entering our food chain. Our children will not be able to swim on beaches in fifty years without gobs of plastic bags and dozens of single-use coffee cups at their feet. Here’s why I’m quitting.
Why I’m Refusing Single-Use Plastic
01. Recycling is expensive.
If you think recycling your plastic makes it better, it doesn’t. In fact, the U.S. is currently having issues with recycling now that China won’t take certain recycled imports and they’re throwing the carefully sorted recycled content into the trash anyway. How disappointing.
02. Plastic is toxic and ends up in the food + drinks we consume.
Plastic has been proven to be a toxin and to release chemicals into the food/drink. I threw out my plastic dishes and food storage, and also ditched plastic water bottles a few years back. But single-use plastic will have the same affects. In this NPR article, some researchers made some pretty jarring discoveries after researching things like baby bottles, deli meat packaging etc.:
“CertiChem, a testing company founded by Bittner, chopped up pieces of each product and soaked them in either saltwater or alcohol to see what came out. The testing showed that more than 70 percent of the products released chemicals that acted like estrogen. And that was before they exposed the stuff to real-world conditions: simulated sunlight, dishwashing and microwaving…”
The toxins alone are reasons enough for me to quit plastic, but it’s so disheartening to know how else it’s affecting our Earth.
03. Plastic is killing our marine-life + pollution our oceans.
The article I read recently from National Geographic about animals and plastic made me very emotional. It shows pictures of sea turtles tangled up in plastic. Animals are actually thinking plastic is food. They’re ingesting it. Then we eat those animals (fish, and other sea life). Kind of gross once you think about it, right?
It’s Time To Make A Change
I know many of these articles I linked to and the facts I’ve shared are frustrating. It’s so depressing to think about, but there ARE ways to reduce our consumption of plastic! And the silver lining is that most of us are parents, meaning we can teach our children how to contribute to a better, safer tomorrow for us, the animals, and our planet.
Thank you so much for reading!
