In fact I was part of the original study based out of Shawnee National Forest to catch and study Leopard frogs and record anomalies (extra legs or other obvious physical mutations) and ratio of sexes. You can tell a male by looking at his larger.... ears. Seriously. At the time, I was a high school student volunteering, and certainly wasn't enlightened as to the seriousness of the research. I just knew it was great fun to skip school, wade through ponds, and play with froggies. It wasn't until I caught up with the state biologist years later that I found out the point behind those blissful, school-free days. We were studying the effects of exogenous estrogens, whether this was causing mutations, and if the populations were being skewed to female. This was in the 1980s! It has been known that plastic impacts health negatively for almost THIRTY YEARS!
What's the main component of plastic? Petrochemicals. What are petrochemicals? Chemicals made from petroleum and distillates. Can't imagine why plastics are endemic.
So... leaving politics, global economies, and social response behind... how do YOU eliminate plastic from your life and that of your family's? It is by far cheaper and not that much harder to start making your own products - future blog post might cover this if there is an interest. Below assumes all goods to be purchased and some of the best places to do so.
Choose wool, wood, concrete, cotton, glass, metal for flooring, furniture, and building material.
Laundry room: Use glass milk bottles (save the cap!!) and refill from the bulk aisle (make sure you label). You can also buy decorative glass jars - but unless you spend some money and get a thick, SOLID jug, it will break easily. If you iron - use a glass spray bottle and make your own spritzer.
Bathroom: Use bar soap, wood toothbrushes, powdered cleaners. Many bodycare products only come in plastic: make sure the plastic is PET-, Paraben-, BPA, and PVC free, and always be on the lookout for alternatives.
Pets: Buy kitty litter and pet food in bags, use stainless steel bowls.
Living room: for candles or scented products, use a canning jar and poke holes in the lid - use a decorative square of fabric and screw on the ring (use wide mouth jars). Coasters can be ceramic, wood, or glass.
Dining room: Use only glass, wood, or metal to eat from. Use fabric placemats (easier to wash than those made from rushes) and fabric tablecloths.
Kitchen: Glass tupperware, canning jars, and parchment paper will be your friends. Textured olive oil bottles with a spout work for dish soap, dishwashing and most cleaners can be bought in powdered form, or in bulk.
When you buy goods: look at the packaging - many times it is indicative of the product quality. Use baskets, canvas bags, and cotton bags when you go shopping. Old pillowcases make great veggie bags. Eggs can be bought in cardboard boxes. If you can buy your meat from a butcher it will be wrapped in paper. Buy bread and keep it in a bread box (good ones available from King Arthur's Flour).
If you have any questions or would like suggestions of how to keep plastic out of YOUR house, feel free to post here.
