People who drink bottled water are exposed to much more than those who drink tap, since their water is stored in plastic. Washing only full loads and only when items are truly dirty are great first steps for reducing microplastics from your laundry.Ī 2019 study commissioned by WWF and carried out by the University of Newcastle Australia, combined data on microplastic ingestion by people and found that we could be ingesting about 5 grams of plastic a week in drinking water-that’s the weight of a nickel. Besides reducing your demand for plastics, one thing you can do at home is to be gentle to your laundry, since so much of our clothing is also made from synthetic materials. Microplastics are prevalent because there is so much plastic out there that breaks apart relatively easily-but corporations are to blame for both situations. …Unfortunately, we should be concerned about both.Īs far as creating microplastics, we don’t have much control over that. Should we be more concerned about consuming microplastics or about creating microplastic waste? Recycled plastic bottles often get made into polyester fabrics, building materials, and more. That means plastic is unlikely to be recycled into something of equal value. Plastics degrade each time they’re processed, unlike glass and aluminum which are infinitely recyclable. What happens to recycled plastic? Is it made back into the bottles and food packaging it comes from?Įven though only about 9% of plastic is recycled, that’s over 3 million tons, which can get made into a lot of recycled plastic items. Check out our Plastic Free Toolkit for dozens of tips on how to reduce the amount of plastic you add to your life at A 2020 report from NPR and PBS Frontline found that the plastic industry, as early as 1974, spent millions on campaigns to convince the public that recycling could keep the environment clean, then made billions on selling plastic. While tossing your water bottle into the trash instead of the recycling bin isn’t ideal, most of the problem comes from manufacturers making plastics that are difficult to recycle or inadequate infrastructure to facilitate recycling. It’s not the fault of regular people that more plastic isn’t recycled. Municipal funding, community pressure, and demand for recycled plastics determine what gets recycled. With current technology, the numbers can’t be mixed because they melt at different temperatures. Plastic is the most complicated material to recycle because each number (noted on the bottom usually, but not always) designates a different chemical makeup. Only about 9% of plastic is recycled, the EPA reported in 2018 (the most recent year with reported data). We can expect that may be true of BPS and other chemicals of this group, though we don’t know for sure. The journal of Environmental Research published a report showing over 100 studies confirming significant effects from exposure even to low doses of BPA, enough to cause hormone disruption or cancer. But now, those products that may be labeled “BPA-free” are likely using similar chemicals with less regulation but similar effects, so they should still be avoided. Since BPA has gotten a lot of bad press, many companies are phasing it out, including in invisible inner liners of canned goods and coating on receipt paper. The FDA banned BPA from infant formula packaging and sippy cups for kids in 2013 following many states and counties banning the plastic chemical from various packaging items. Is BPA still a concern? Wasn’t it banned? This article aims to answer five of the biggest questions on plastics safety we get at Green America.ĭon’t see your question? This article is the second in a series-check out “Your Top 10 Plastics Questions, Answered” for the answers to questions about single-use plastics, how China processes our recycling, and more. If you look around your kitchen you’ll see a lot of it. Half of plastic produced is designed only to be used once. In the seven or so minutes it will take you to read this article, there will be seven million more plastic water bottles on the planet. It’s hard to grasp the sheer volume of plastic in our lives, and many people are wondering, is it really safe? Since 1950, more than 8.5 billion tons of plastic have been produced.
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