Rethink Plastic

Isn't it amazing to think we have only had plastic in our lives since 1909...just over 100 years, and look at how much damage it has caused in such a short time.

​If you are having trouble viewing the video, Click Here or go to                         http://youtu.be/D7vHrMsnRFA



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Small towns everywhere are being taken advantage of for their water resources to fill the manufacturers’ greedy pockets. In the process, the poor people in these neighborhoods are being poisoned by the toxic manufacturing of plastic bottles.

It is also estimated that two liters of water are needed to bottle every liter on the store shelf, resulting in approximately 72 billion gallons wasted annually worldwide.

According to the Environmental Working Group, the annual manufacturing of plastic bottles for just water bottles in the U.S. takes as much oil as is required to fuel a million cars. 
 
It is estimated that only one out of five bottles actually gets recycled, with mch of the rest polluting our environment and killing our wildlife as seen in the video above.
 
Bottled water has been found to contain over 24,000 chemicals, including endocrine disruptors, including phthalates, which cause a multitude of problems with our health, including:

• Learning and behavioral problems
• Altered immune system function
• Early puberty in girls
• Fertility problems in men and women
• Decreased sperm count
• Prostate and breast cancer
• Obesity and diabetes
• Liver cancer
• Male babies born with undescended testes at birth and developing testicular tumors later in life
• Boys whose mothers had high phthalate exposures while pregnant were much more likely to have certain demasculinized traits and produce less testosterone

 
There is a false belief of those drinking bottled water that bottles are now safe since they are produced without BPA.  However, the BPS that replaced the BPA may actually cause more problems than the BPA did and there are several other components in plastic that are harmful to our health.
 
A 2011 study published in Environmental Health Perspectives found that almost all of the 455 commercially available plastics that were tested leached estrogenic chemicals.
 
It is important to never heat foods or drinks in plastic containers and avoid drinking water that has been sitting in a hot vehicle.  Chemicals can also leech from plastic containers that have been washed in dishwashers, so it is best to hand wash any plastic container that comes in contact with your food, or better yet, use glass storage containers instead.

Ways to reduce plastics in your life:

Purchase a Reverse Osmosis home water filter system.

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or a gravity water filter, like Nikken or Santevia

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Use reusable glass water bottles.

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​Use reusable cotton produce bags for nuts, seeds, dry beans, grains and produce.

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or purchase reusable green produce bags for your produce, they are made from plastic, but they can be washed and used for several months.

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Keep a reusable spoon & fork in your car to avoid using one-time-use plastic utensils.

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Go to places where they use biodegradable food containers and suggest them to those places that are still using disposable plastic.

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​Purchase from local farmers at farmer’s markets (or grow your own) to reduce your intake of plastic packaging.

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​Make more meals at home with whole foods that are not packaged.

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References:

http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0072472

http://www.rsc.org/chemistryworld/2013/09/worrying-molecule-bottled-water-endocrine

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/266038.php
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http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/bpa-free-plastic-containers-may-be-just-as-hazardous/

​http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2011/01/15/dangers-of-drinking-water-from-a-plastic-bottle.aspx