Do You Know?

Note: The following piece was written by Sister Barbara Sheehan on behalf of the Climate Crisis Task Force.

Do you know that plastic is everywhere? It’s in bowls, wraps, and a host of bottles and bags used to store foods and beverages.

Do you know that certain chemicals in plastics leach out of plastic and into the food and beverages we eat? And, that some of these chemicals are directly linked to health problems, such as obesity with greater harmful potential when leftover food is microwaved in plastic containers. Some early studies indicate that there may be brain and blood damage as part of the health problems.

Do you know that, according to the Organization of Economic Co-operation and Development, only 9 percent of the 300 million tons of the world’s plastic waste is recycled and that prediction has it that by 2050, consumption is to triple. And decomposition takes years and years to occur?

Did you know that there are one trillion plastic bags produced annually and one million consumed every minute? These bags, according to the Environmental Programme of the United Nations, are “showing up in the depths of the ocean to the summit of Mount Everest to the polar ice caps … intensifying some major environmental challenges.”

Do you know that there are hundreds of millions of tons of garbage annually exported to poorer nations where it is landfilled, littered or burned created environmental devastation for the people and countries? Plastics is part of non-biodegradable garbage.

Brief Information

Historically, it was Europe’s colonial quest for raw materials during its consumer market escalation coupled with its war-making industry that created and popularized plastics. It was around 1960 that single-use plastics were ushered in the United States.

Plastics are made from natural gas, crude oil, coal, cellulose and salt through a polymerization process. The process refines the oil and gas into hydrocarbons that led to cracking which breaks down into smaller molecules. Plastics contain a high level of these high-energy fossil fuels that, as we know, are destructive to the environment and humans.

Thus, negative effects of plastics are:

• Environmental pollution. Plastic does not biodegrade and cane take up to 1,000 years to break down, causing pollution in the environment,
• Health impacts. Certain chemicals in plastic can leach into food and beverages, potentially leading to health problems,
• Fossil fuel use. Most plastic is created from fossil fuels, contributing to pollution during extraction. Plastic use is a vote for the fossil fuel industry, and
• Marine and land pollution. Improperly disposed plastic harms marine life and takes centuries to decompose in landfills.

What can I/We do?

Perhaps the first thing you and I can do is to claim the devastation that plastics can have and to commit to not being a part of this personal and communal environmental disaster.

Then, we can consider practicing some significant actions to be part of the change that can and needs to happen to lessen the negative impact of plastics.

For example, one can care and engage by:

• Advocating at stores for non-plastic containers and being aware of how things are made,
• Using bar shampoo to eliminate the plastic shampoo bottles. There are many sources for purchasing bar shampoo. The author testifies to her use and many shampoos per bar,
• Replacing liquid soap with bar soap in the kitchen and bathrooms,
• Storing leftovers in glass or plant-based containers instead of plastic containers or baggies. Taking own containers for “take home” foods when eating out,
• Supporting companies that use plant-based packaging,
• Utilizing biodegradable utensils and/or plates (no Styrofoam or plastics) at church events, office and community events, picnics, etc.,
• Buying laundry detergents in cardboard boxes (not plastic containers) and using dryer balls,
• Using cloth bags wherever you shop, not just at the grocery,
• Buying recycled paper or bamboo toilet paper, tissues, paper towels, and
• Declining use of straws in restaurants and explain a bit why.

I suggest you take time to watch “The Plastic Problem,” a video on PBS. It will assist your understanding of plastics and enhance your resolve to lessen the use of them.