Reducing Plastics
One part of living a sustainable life is reducing use of plastics. Plastics take forever to break down and/or they don’t break down at all. Thus, once they are here, they take up lots of landfill space. Producing plastics can be harmful to the environment and most of our plastics in the US are produced overseas, especially in China.
Plastics can also leak into our bodies, food, and water. Perhaps you have heard of microplastics. I heard on a podcast that we are all eating about a credit card’s worth of plastic each week. That is a lot of for our body to process! We did not evolve to process plastic. Kelly Leveque advocates for glass containers for food because she can see a difference in hormone levels after testing. Plastic in your body is an endocrine disrupter and can affect your hormones. Hormones affect your brain health, metabolism, mood, and more!
I have taken Kelly’s advice to use all glass containers to store leftovers. I use silicone in the kitchen when I need non-stick or glass is not available. Silicone is still a plastic, but some believe it is safer than plastic if it is commercial/food safe graded. Plastic breaks down the most when heated. I never cook or microwave in plastic. This means no sous vide cooking or vacuum sealing in plastic. I try to buy food that comes in glass jars, but trying to eliminate plastic when buying food is seemingly impossible. Almost all our food is packaged in plastic. I don’t drink out of plastic cups; I use glass and stainless steel only. I take my own stainless steel cup to coffee shops because those paper cups they use are lined with a kind of plastic/wax seal. I don’t drink bottled water that comes in individual bottles. The plastic BPA has been linked to breast cancer in studies (see sources). I don’t buy soap in plastic. I take glass jars to a soap refill center to fill for laundry detergent, dishwasher detergent, dish soap, and handsoap. I tried to swap body lotion for an oil that came in a glass bottle, but I didn’t like the results. My skin felt even drier and the scent was a little overwhelming. Still looking for a great unscented lotion in a glass bottle if you have any recommendations! I bought glass carafes to keep coffee and tea in the refrigerator instead of a plastic pitcher.
I would love help with supplements. Some of my supplements come in glass bottles, but the capsule is a plastic capsule filled with the supplement. Should I take the powder out of the capsule so I am not consuming the plastic? Will the vitamin still work and absorb correctly?
I try to cook at home as much as possible for health reasons. Also, take out, delivery, and fast food creates a lot of packaging waste. I need to be a real trooper and bring my own glass containers to restaurants so I can pack the leftovers without using their disposable containers, but I haven’t remembered to do that yet. Yes, sustainability is a journey and no one is perfect!
Sources: