Photo Credit: GregPC
The most fame that this little blog ever got was when I got criticized (I think) for suggesting a vasectomy as a way of reducing plastic consumption. This was in print in Mother Jones. A blogger who writes positively about the plastics industry read the article and wrote a post about anti-plastic bloggers. I got some personal attention from that too.
I went back to reread the post in PlasticsNews and saw a comment that I hadn’t noticed before. Ellen Martin wrote “and given current surgical practice there’s no such thing as a plastics-free vasectomy!”
I don’t actually know how much plastic was consumed in the case of my vasectomy. All I can clearly remember is the smell from the laser cauterization and the fact that the painkillers wore off before I finished the drive home (I found out later that I was supposed to have somebody else drive).
The comment got me thinking about all the plastic that is used in health care and how we are not usually in any position to advocate for an alternative when we need help. It’s not like you can bring your own bag when you need a unit of blood. You can’t go to some vintage store and pick up a funky ivory hip replacement.
Many of the items used in medicine were developed after plastic became a widely used material. Many other plastic items used in medicine replace their rubber and glass predecessors. Sterilizing glass items so that they can be reused safely is energy intensive. I don’t know if anyone has crunched the numbers to see whether a glass syringe has a smaller carbon footprint than a single use plastic one. I haven’t heard about any glass syringes washing up on the beach lately.
Plastic is being put inside our bodies with increasing frequency. Hip and knee replacement are plastic. The hardware used in many weight loss surgeries are plastic. Boobs are plastic.
I actually have a little bit of plastic inside of me. I have had two hernia repairs. The second one was performed early in this century and it involved some polypropylene mesh.
You have to wonder if people in the medical profession are preparing to find alternatives when plastic becomes scarce or expensive as a result of dwindling oil supplies. Hopefully they will be given priority over the people who make talking bass novelty items and cell phone accessories.
If you look through all of the blogs written by plastic free purists, you can probably find quite a few admissions about plastic consumption related to pharmaceuticals or other medical stuff. I can’t fault anyone for choosing the best treatment available rather than searching for a plastic free option when they are suffering. I can suggest that you do some contingency shopping for cold and headache medications that are available in glass containers. Look for vitamin supplements in glass containers, but first ask yourself if you really need them.
The best way to reduce the amount of plastic consumption related to your health care is to stay healthy. Don’t smoke. Don’t abuse drugs, including alcohol. Exercise regularly. Eat a healthy diet. Be careful crossing the street. Don’t participate in high risk sexual activities. Don’t piss people off.
February 27th, 2009 at 4:59 pm
Plastic medical supplies are like anything, neither inherently good or bad — it’s just in certain contexts — like when they are not recycled or properly disposed of… but the issue will be with scarcity at some point — I vote get rid of Nascar/Grand Prix racing, or at least charge them for the wasteful use of fuel, the polluting fumes and the noise pollution they really costs. Of course, I will be accused of all sorts of things — but I will take those insults to live in a world without cars driving round and round in circles any day.
February 27th, 2009 at 7:57 pm
I joined a NASCAR forum under an assumed name just to stir sh** a while back. Now that it’s off season I get letters from a bot saying that they miss me. I agree NASCAR should be one of the first resource suckers to go on the chopping block.
A point that I may not have made very clearly in the post is that acting in ways that minimize our need for medical care is the best choice for the environment as well as for ourselves.
February 28th, 2009 at 4:51 pm
[...] 20 foot container held about 300 bags that each weighed 150 pounds (see paragraph about hernia from last post). Coffee is one of the few items that is still exported the same way that it was before plastic [...]
July 28th, 2009 at 8:52 pm
That is just plain sick. I didn’t know there was plastic consumption.
November 9th, 2009 at 5:56 pm
That is really fantastic…
Good work