Decreasing Plastic Is A Win-Win-Win

Check out this Tedx talk from Beth Terry.  In 2007 she committed to not buying any new plastic, and she has come pretty darn close.  She has a website where she chronicles her efforts.  Her talk is moving in many ways, most of all in its explanation of why her individual act matters.

As many of you know, I have been trying to decrease my plastic use for about the past year, and have decided to step this up as one of my 2012 Resolutions.  It boggles the mind to think that we lived without plastic just 100 years ago, and now it is in almost everything we use.

  I want to use less plastic because it is harmful to the environment– you may have heard of the  great Pacific Garbage Patch, or the impact plastics have on aquatic life and climate change.  But, as David Suzuki reminds us “we are the environment,”  and so it should not surprise us that a study of the Environmental Working Group found  chemicals from plastics, many of which have been linked to increases in autism, ADHD, cancer, and other health issues, in the umbilical cord blood of infants.

So if you care about the planet, aquatic life, OR your children and grandchildren,  decreasing the plastic in your life is a win-win-win.  I don’t think I can decrease my plastic use as much as Beth Terry, but I resolve to analyze my use of plastic, and find some areas in which I can go plastic- free.  I will keep you updated by blogging about my progress.  Please post your ideas and inspiration, and we can take this journey together!  For more information check out the Plastic Pollution Coalition, and this great article on the safe use of plastic, in Real Green Living.