Sustainable Tarpon Springs - Plastic, NOT Sustainable!

Anyone who knows me has heard me say:  plastic is the bane of our planet!  Had it never been invented, we would be much better off.  If I can use anything as an alternative to plastic, I definitely make the effort.  There now, I feel so much better!

So, while it is always thoughtful to be offered drinking water in a warm place like Florida, I would rather be a little thirsty than to open another plastic bottle ever again.  I’m happy to have cultivated the habit of taking a stainless steel drinking bottle with me most of the time.  And if I forget it, I always have a small reusable cup in my bag.  

Were it possible to go back in time and prevent the invention of plastics, the world would be such a different place today!  Two major vortexes of plastic in the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans (each larger than the size of Texas) would not exist.  The impact on the entire food chain of fish, birds, and sea mammals would not be contaminated and we’d all be healthier for it.

The visible effects are enough to convince me to avoid using plastic when possible, but the more subtle, hidden problems are so biologically technical, most of us are unwilling to learn about them.  In the early 1990’s, the chemical compounds in plastic were labeled for their infamous role as endocrine disrupters.  

Since then, a controversial battle has raged on between those who research the long-term health effects of endocrine disruptors, and the chemical companies who would prefer to sweep those studies under the carpet.

Endocrine disruptors can cause a wide range of negative chain reactions, from cancerous tumors, birth defects, and developmental disorders.  The sensitive endocrine system is controlled by hormones, so anything disrupting their subtle processes can cause complex and far reaching imbalances.  

Ninety percent of our exposure comes through food, and even though a big fuss about BPA (Bisphenol-A) finally reached the public a few years ago, causing the second reduction of a compound in plastic, there are still plenty of other endocrine disruptors in products we use.

BPA is released from plastic when it is exposed to heat, such as when a water bottle is left in a hot car, or a baby bottle is heated to warm formula.  BPA is still used in the lining of food cans which are heated during the canning process, so food is contaminated as it is canned!  It is much healthier to use tomato sauce from glass than from lined cans, for example.

Researchers asked traditional Amish and Mennonite communities to participate in studies to compare the difference of people whose exposure to plastics was minimal to the rest of the average population, and they confirmed the lack of associated health issues.

The good news is once plastic is lessened or removed, the human ‘body burden’ starts to decrease.  The remediation of environmental pollution is more complicated because of the massive amount of plastic trash loose in our environment and the bio-accumulation in the food chain.  

I can’t even begin to touch upon the indoor pollution we are subjected to through PCBs and PCBEs via flame retardants used in almost all products nowadays.  Initially these compounds showed up in the breast milk of Inuit women because of high concentrations in the fat tissue of sea mammals they live on.  

It was soon discovered to be in most women’s breast milk due to household environmental pollutants.  Europe and Canada banned these flame retardants, but of course, in the U.S. the onus is on the consumer to seek out products without them.

So, what can we do?  First of all, be willing to establish new habits!  We can stop using plastic water bottles and bags, and buy a stainless steel drinking bottle and reusable bags.  Even though BPA is being eliminated from many plastics that contact our food, plastic bottles and bags visibly litter the waterways and kill wildlife.

We can seek out glass and stainless alternatives for food storage.  Glass, stainless steel, and aluminum are entirely recycle-able; whereas, even if plastic has the recycle symbol, it is only downcycleable into another product that can’t really biodegrade.

As consumers, we can vote with our dollars!  Start researching the companies that are making PCB-free and PCBE-free household items and buy those products.

As we avoid using plastics, we are lessening support for an industry which has wreaked havoc on our planet.  As buying plastic tapers off - and alternatives to plastic are supported - economic growth happens in technologies that understand and support sustainability!  

Keep Tarpon Springs beautiful - find lasting alternatives to plastic!  It is the cool thing to do.