What is Plastic Made of?
Our society is heavily reliant on plastic. It is everywhere and has been very convenient to use, but since we rely on it so much, it has become an epidemic. The main concerns are its effects on our health and on the environment - since a lot of it ends up as trash instead of recycled.
The primary sources of the key ingredients in plastic are petroleum and natural gas. Sounds scary. Plastics are composed of polymers, large molecules consisting of repeating units called monomers. In plastic bags, the repeating units are ethylene or ethene.
In terms of health, our use of plastic can have side effects. Toxic chemicals leach out of plastic and can be found in the blood and tissue of most of us. The Plastic Pollution Coalition highlights that exposure to these toxic chemicals is linked to cancers, birth defects, impaired immunity, endocrine disruption and other ailments. (from Jan 19, 2017).
So we should really try to limit our use of plastic. Some items are unavoidable, but for many items, we have a choice. Instead of storing our food in plastic containers, there are bamboo and wheat straw options. These are great products that look like plastic- are reusable for many years to come- BUT when you are finished with them they go into the composting bin. (Yay!)
Check these out -
Stay tuned for our next blog on the Great Garbage Patch...
* Beautiful image of Girl in Plastic by Velizar Ivanov