Plastics are not only bad for the environment but also very bad for your health. The best would be not to use plastic at all in your everyday life, but reducing the usage of plastic makes great change towards better health too.
Plastic containers release harmful toxins such as bisphenol A (BPA) or phthalates in your food and drinks. These and other dangerous chemicals also appear in children’s toys. Children get exposed to toxins when touching the toys or putting them into their mouths.
When plastic products or packaging end up in nature, it causes a huge environmental problem. Plastic breaks down into microplastics, which end up in fish and other things that we eat. Consuming micro plastics can have severe health effects for people.
Is recycling plastics enough or should we pursue a plastic-free life?
Reducing usage of plastic
- When buying products packaged in plastic, consider if you need them.
- Buy vegetables, berries, and fruits without plastic wrapping or packaged in biodegradable wrapping.
- Change your food containers to BPA-free steel or glass containers.
- Reduce the number of cosmetic products you use and prefer ones that are packed in glass, steel, or wooden package.
- Same with cleaning products, reduce the number of products you use. You can also learn to make DIY cleaning products.
- Invest in quality cooking utensils (steel, glass, wooden) and gradually get rid of plastic ones. Quality over quantity!
- Buy a good steel bottle and reusable coffee mug to carry your drinks so you don’t need to buy them in plastic bottles or mugs.
- Instead of using plastic wrap, purchase reusable beeswax wrap. For example Bees Wrap.
- Instead of plastic bags use reusable bags.
- Change plastic storage boxes to cardboard ones.
- Even dog poop bags are available as biodegradable🐶
When you can’t avoid buying plastic products, the best choice is to purchase ones that are made of recycled plastic.
You don’t need to use a lot of money to purchase plastic-free food containers or storage boxes, you can reuse glass and steel containers that you buy food in. For storage boxes, use all kinds of cardboard boxes such as shoe boxes, etc. To make them look nice, you can cover boxes with paper or paint them. Or let your kids decorate them, great project to keep kids active and learn about improving the environment and the whole family’s health🌏
Great article about plastic and health in Geneva Environment Network’s post.