Plastic-Less

Feb 17

Learn the importance of reducing plastics

If you are a millennial, like me, you cannot remember a time without plastic. From playing with Barbies and Bratz Dolls, to using plastic cups, bags and beyond, we have lived in a plastic-full era. During my clinical program to become a dietitian, I started swapping plastic wrap, Ziploc bags, and plastic bags for reusable options (Bee’s wrap, Zip Top and Stasher bags, and cloth bags for groceries) when I learned not only about the impact on the environment, but also our health.

I made trips to the Package Free shop in Brooklyn to fuel my new low-waste lifestyle. Picking up reusable lunch containers, beauty products, and bamboo to-go ware. From there I was hooked. Finding creative ways to reuse glass jars, swapping old products for ones that are better for me, and the environment. I started gifting my family Bee’s wrap, to-go ware, cloth napkins, and reusable bags for gifts.

Environmental Impact

Did you know there is a garbage patch in the Pacific Ocean that is twice the size of Texas? It consists mostly of plastic products and fishing debris (nets, traps, buoys, etc). The average use of a plastic bag is 12 minutes with Americans using half a million bags each minute. On average it takes plastics 1000 years to decompose… We can do better. We existed for so long before plastics were created. Sure, they make life convenient, but we just need to relearn how to live without them, or with less of them.

Health Impact

Plastics hold our food products, produce, and frozen favorites. They line single use coffee cups. Plastics are in our beauty products, and in our environment. This information is not to overwhelm, but to inform. We are not in control of everything in our surroundings (air quality, etc), but there are many things we can do to reduce our exposure to plastics.

The acronym BPA (Bisphenol A) may sound familiar. BPAs can be found on the inside of canned foods, receipts, as well as plastic drinking bottles. BPAs fall into a group of man-made or naturally occurring compounds called endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs).

Endocrine disruptors mimic the effects of hormones in the body. This can impact the body’s ability to regulate the levels of sex hormones and thyroid hormones in the body. EDCs have been shown to impact hormone health as well as increase risk for type 2 diabetes and cancer.

Where do you start?

One swap at a time. When one product runs out, find a better option to replace it with. The Environmental Working Group (EWG) has incredible resources to find better beauty products, cleaning products, solar energy, water resources, and more. As helpful as these resources can be, it can also be overwhelming. Do the best that you can!

I recently checked out Dry Goods Refillery in Montclair, New Jersey, whose tagline is “plastic free grocers who give a fig.”

My Haul

Cleaning Products: