So, How Does That Plastic Taste?

We have been finding plastic polluting our water, our soil, and our wildlife for a while now.

But would you believe me if I said it’s in the salt you pour on your pasta? The beers you knock back late at night (or at 11 A.M.- no judgment here)? Even the bottled water you buy from the store.

Don’t believe me?  Look at the research for yourself.

Science is beginning to confirm that birds and marine animals aren’t the only ones consuming plastic.

Although, a sperm whale was just found dead on the coast of the Mediterranean with 48.5 pounds of plastic in its stomach, so it’s not like that issue is getting any better. Plastic shopping bags, fishing lines, and even a washing detergent package with its bar code still legible were found in this poor whale’s stomach.

Single-use plastics are typically the hot topic, but it’s important to realize that plastic waste comes from all aspects of our lives, not just food.

We’re adding ourselves to the list of animals poisoning their bodies through the consumption of plastic, but I’m obviously not talking about entire plastic bags or washing detergent packages like the whale consumed. And the difference is that we choose to create, use, and discard these plastics, but wildlife doesn’t have a say in the matter. It just has to sit there and take it. Plastic is killing more than 100,000 sea turtles and birds a year from ingestion or entanglement because of our lifestyle choices.

The plastic we consume is microscopic, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t harmful.

Tiny plastic particles and fibers have been found in the poop samples of eight people participating in a pilot study.

The amount of plastic we have consumed globally since 1950 is 9.2 billion tons. To put that in perspective (not that the average person knows the weight of the pyramids, but hey), that weight is equivalent to nearly 1,600 Great Pyramids of Giza.

Plastic bioaccumulates throughout the food chain, so by the time we eat an animal, we consume even more plastic than the animal initially did.

Endocrine disruptors are in many different types of plastics. They can mimic or interfere with the body’s hormones and have been tied to reduced fertility and increased incidences or progression of obesity, diabetes, some cancers, and other diseases.  Carcinogens have been found in certain plastics as well.

Our affinity for the convenience of plastic isn’t only hurting the environment. It’s hurting us too.

Do your part to reduce plastic consumption and spread awareness before it’s too late.

Happy plastic-free living!

S.