NPR published an article this month about plastic baby bottles shedding microplastics when heated. Years ago, I remember seeing a headline that read “We Are Drinking Our Clothes”. Since then, I’ve seen so many depressing articles about microplastics in the fog over our bay, in the air we breathe, in the water we drink. Plastic is all around us and our reliance on it is also our demise. I suppose on the bright side it’s good for the plastic problem to become more mainstream. Sad pun intended.
When Bubba was born, I was really terrified of three things: 1) him breathing in air pollution like truck or car exhaust or fertilizer (we live in a rural town surrounded by corn fields), 2) him coming into contact with the lawn spray that is so pervasive in our neighborhood and that our dog might track in, and 3) him ingesting microplastics or harmful metals like lead.
Let’s be real. I was worried about these things before he was born. But before I got pregnant, I only had myself to worry about. To bring another life into this effed up world, I feel immense responsibility to keep him safe.
Safe from plastic and toxins. This task just seems so…impossible. Unless, I put him in a bubble. Wait, is that an option?
Here is what I know about plastic:
All plastic erodes and becomes finer pieces of microplastic.
Plastic doesn’t ever leave earth. All the plastic that has ever been created? It’s all still on this earth somewhere.
Most of our clothing is made of plastic or some synthetic material like acrylic or polyester. Continuously washing and wearing our clothes creates more microplastic. I’m looking at you, yoga pants.
Here are the problems with plastic:
Plastic disrupts our delicate endocrine system.
A handful of big corporations are the biggest producers of plastic and thus plastic waste. Coke, Pepsi, and Nestle are up at the top.
Plastic pollution is nearly impossible to clean up. Microplastic especially.
To get sick from plastic, it’s difficult for doctors to diagnose plastic as the root cause. Cancers are unique to the individual, a special formula made up of small or large traces of genes, toxins, and other stressors.
Do we fight the plastic fight until something else kills us in the end? Do I fight for my child, knowing that it might give him a chance at a better life?
Yes, I believe I do. I’ll take that chance.
