With the use of plastic wrap down approximately 75% and paper napkins and towels down 98% it’s time for the next challenge. All those plastic containers that fill my cabinets and refrigerator shelves.
Before!
The obvious impact of plastic on our environment is landfills piling up with plastic bags and containers. When scientists test the degradation process of objects they most often measure the carbon dioxide resulting from organic matter consuming that object. Plastic has only been around for the past fifty years or so and there is no definitive answer as to how long it takes to break down, but suffice it to say that when they test plastic the microorganisms release zero amounts of carbon dioxide, in other words, it doesn’t break down. The logical conclusion is that it will be around for the next 500 years or so.
Plastic leaches chemicals into our food, our landfills and our water. The risk is even greater when that plastic is exposed to heat or extreme cold. For reasons explained in the last blog ‘Eliminating Plastic Wrap and Tin Foil – Is It A Health Issue?‘ plastic is a danger to our health. According to an article by David Bielo in Scientific American, BPA is being found in almost every urine sample they have collected over the past year suggesting a constant exposure to the chemical. Heat is the biggest culprit when BPA leaches out of our plastic and into our food. One scientist that contributed to the article had this to say:
“… such containers should never be microwaved, used to store heated liquids or foods, or washed in hot water (either by hand or in much hotter dishwashers). “These are fantastic products and they work well … [but] based on my knowledge of the scientific data, there is reason for caution,” Belcher says. “I have made a decision for myself not to use them.”
In my opinion if the scientists are eliminating plastic from their lives based on the data then I should too. So I tackle the easiest part first. How do I get rid of the plasti
c in my cabinets and replace it with glass or stainless steel? The glass part was easy; I went to a few big box stores and purchased varying brands of glass containers. I emptied the cabinet of the offending plastic and found that I didn’t really need half as many containers as I had in there. The cupboard looks bare in comparison. As you can see by the photo I did keep a few plastic containers but I don’t intend to use them for food. They do come in handy for organizing desk drawers, office supplies, crafts, etc.
I still have the problem of products that come from the grocery store packaged in plastic. That issue will be more time consuming to solve and will require more research on my part. But for now, I’ve taken one more step towards living sustainably which has benefits to both the earth and to myself.
haha