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I found this website- www.lifewithoutplastic.com that talks about our dependence on plastics and alternatives we could use in our everyday lives. It also talks about the dangers of using so much plastic because of the toxins in it. Here is a summary of what I found on this site: Plastics are becoming a prominant problem environmentally because most plastics are made of a non- renewable resource petroleum. Plastic packaging – especially the ubiquitous plastic bag – is an enormous source of landfill waste and is regularly eaten by numerous marine and land animals, to fatal consequences.
Not only are plastics a danger to the marine and terrestrial animals but also to our own health. The most disturbing of these are hormone (endocrine) disrupters, such as Bisphenol A (BPA), which can stimulate the growth of cancer cells. Exposure to BPA at a young age can cause genetic damage, and BPA has been linked to recurrent miscarriage in women. The manufacture of plastic, as well as its destruction by incineration, pollutes air, land and water and exposes workers to toxic chemicals, including carcinogens. The evidence of health risks from certain plastics is increasingly appearing in established, peer-reviewed scientific journals.
This site also give a description of the different types of plastics and the toxins associated with them. You can also purchase alternative products to plastic on the website. Check it out!
Its hard to think that something that is so widely used can be so detrimental to the environment and humanity. Just looking about my room I see a variety of objects that are plastic and which eventually will be thrown out because some of them you cannot recycle. I do feel as a society we are reliant on this material, many objects like plastic water bottles are used with such excess that it blows my mind. Just from the one day on campus Billy and I found at least over 100 bottles and that wasn't even checking the whole campus. It makes me think to the future and wonder if we will ever stop being so dependent a few resources, such as plastic. From reading the above post I feel like the above makes plastics seem almost deadly, why then is it distributed at the rates and volume it is?
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