The key aim of this blog is to promote reduced use of plastic. I know as well as anybody that using plastic stuff is almost unavoidable. With this in mind, I am adding a link to some information about which plastics are more hazardous and which ones are less hazardous.
Thegreenguide.com/products/Kitchen/Plastic_Containers
This blog is about reducing our personal consumption of plastic. So far, it has been a hodgepodge of old ideas and new ideas. Old ideas can make a lot of sense, most of the time. Plastic has only become a ubiquitous part of our lives in the last few generations. Before that, other materials were doing just fine at meeting our needs… or were they?
You need to be very cautious about antique items that contain dangerous materials like lead and mercury. I would suggest a ‘better safe than sorry” approach with regards to old cookware, utensils and serving dishes. Even decorative antiques can pose health risks. Looking into the issue of lead poisoning was very depressing for me. I did not know that a proposed ban on lead paint went before the US House of Representatives in 1910 and that it took 68 years before the Consumer Product Safety Commission eventually banned it. Over 4000 tonnes of lead paint had been slapped on walls and toys and various other things in the interim.
I wonder if the push and pull related to chemicals leaching from plastic drinking containers will drag on that long? Actually, I am certain that it will not. Things move faster in the information age. Several companies removed products containing Bisphenol A as soon as the issue started making headlines. Interestingly, I think the scandal about lead in products made in China may has sensitized the media and consumers in such a way as to catalyze the reaction to Bisphenol A.
Another depressing issue involves the modern low watt light bulb. Al Gore et al. want to ban incandescent light bulbs in homes. The present alternative is a CFL that contains mercury. They also contain more plastic than a typical incandescent bulb.
Proponents of these efficient bulbs say that the fact that they contain more hazardous materials and the fact that they take more energy to produce are more than offset by the energy savings. I am worried about the environmental impact of their production because they are presently made in China. I am also worried about the mercury. There have been advances, with some bulbs having 1/5 the amount of mercury of typical CFLs.
I have personal experience with cheap CFLs that did not have the long life that is touted by their promoters. The answer might be higher standards. Right now, they are trying to compete with standard light bulbs. When legislation kicks in this will be less of an issue.
That warning is even more famous than Caution: Coffee May Be Hot, or whatever the cups say these days. I tried to find the warning on google. It turns out that lots of people make jokey photochops about coffee cups.
Both warnings state the obvious.
Bisphenol A is a chemical that is present in small quantities in liquids that are bottled using plastic. It is presently under scrutiny because of health risks, especially for children. The province of Ontario in Canada is studying the issue and a province wide ban is not off the table. Some private companies that are branded as green are not waiting for government action. MEC pulled plastic drinking bottles off the shelves long ago and Lululemon Athletica Inc. has acrylic bottles made without Bisphenol A arriving in 2008 to replace the plastic bottles that they are selling now. They have not taken bottles off the shelves. While studies are linking the chemical to problems such as infertility and cancer, manufacturers and retailers counter that consumers would never be exposed to dangerous levels of the toxin through normal use of their products. I’m having a feeling of deja vu … remmber the lead in the miniblinds last century?
Source:Canadianpress.google.com
I was inspired by a post over at Eco Child’s Play about wooden blocks. Blocks are certainly a must have toy for early childhood. I would suggest that you avoid painted blocks, especially with vintage used blocks. I used to work at a sawmill and I provided a private school with blocks made from scraps. Maple is the best wood for toys. Aspen doesn’t splinter. I donated a bag of scrap wood that I cut into 4″X4″X1/2″. Kids used this for imaginative play and for arts and crafts.
At home, I had some leftovers from a project that looked a bit like telephone receivers. I sanded them up a bit and gave them to my 8 year olds. We have a delightful family anecdote related to the use of these blocks. The blocks that are pictured here were a very popular item at a school that my children used to attend. They are awesome toys.
PIRATES off the coast of Somalia were/are in possession of a tanker ship full of benzene. One of the main commercial uses for this chemical is plastics manufacturing. It is carcinogenic. A warship fired on the vessel before finding out that it contained the explosive and very hazardous substance.
It is frightening to think about how many tanker ships and tanker trucks are moving around keeping the global economy chugging away why putting the actual globe at risk. Using less plastic ultimately would mean less of this risk. I wonder if a shipload of benzene was traveling to a country where lower wages and less restrictive environmental standards meant it could be put to more profitable use?
I am not a regular at Starbucks. In fact, I live in one of the few places in the World that does not have Starbucks…yet.
I was surprised to hear that they ever sold plastic children’s cups that were made in China. From the description, they sound like the kind of thing that McDonald’s gives away with a Happy Meal. Giving things away would devalue the brand, so Starbucks was selling them for about $6.
Now they are recalling them because they can easily break and then the small parts present a choking hazard. If you bought one of the 250,000 cups, you might want to think a little more carefully about how to spend the $6 the second time. See if you can find a half pound of Fair Trade Organic Coffee from a local roaster who will sell it to you in a paper bag.
