Plastic

Have a good look around your house and you'll see just how much we use plastic. It seems in the last 50 years all other materials have been replaced by the "better" plastic option --wood, steel, leather, glass, rubber, cotton and the list goes on. Plastic is used as the safer, lighter and of course, cheaper alternative. In addition, it breaks after a certain amount of use so the need to produce more is built in. It's still lighter, cheaper and still breaks, but it's obvious now that it isn't safe at all. Quite the contrary.

As mentioned in both my bisphenol A and phthalates posts, our beloved plastic (including vinyl) contains many different components that are toxic to our health, acting as extra hormones in our body. These components are used to make plastic soft, thin, flexible, strong, light --basically all the characteristics we like about it.

Heating up plastic has always been a bad idea --anyone who's melted it by mistake knows that chemical smell. We know it, yet as recently as last year my family and I were leaving water bottles in the sun and heating up food in the microwave in plastic containers or with cling wrap. A study at Dartmouth University found that a plastic wrap smeared in olive oil, heated up in the microwave had 500,000 times the amount of xenoestrogen needed for breast cancer cells to multiply in test tubes. Even worse, we now know there's no need to heat plastic (or freeze it for that matter) for it to leach --just touching it is enough. These toxins are absorbed through our skin as well as inhaled. They stay in dust bunnies in our homes and when our food comes in contact with plastic, we eat them.

To make you aware, here's a random selection of things made of plastic that originally weren't. Which makes me think that "if it isn't broken, don't fix it":
Fences and decks;
Windows, doors and house siding;
Tools for yard work and indoor cleaning (rakes, mops);
Furniture and lamps (in plastic and vinyl);
Window blinds, shower curtains and picture frames;
Kid's toys and books;
Pens and markers (as opposed to pencils);
Clothing (raincoats, shoes, belts);
CD cases (as opposed to LP pockets) and DVD cases (as opposed to VCR pockets);
Dishes and utensils (for cooking and eating) including ice trays;
Food storage and packed lunch containers;
Juice jugs, milk bags and wine bottles...and corks;
Yogurt and other wet dairy products sold in containers;
Meat and cheese sold in cling plastic (as opposed to paper);
Fresh fruit baskets (have you seen the new peach ones this year?)

When I looked around, I was horrified that my 3 beloved vintage chairs were all in vinyl --a material I choose when I got them reupholstered because it looks great and is so child and dog friendly (yeah...). And my beautiful Philip Stark Ghost chair, a piece of art, is, you said it, plastic. That's what it is! A plastic chair! I still love it...

In France, food is sold mostly in glass containers. I took a few photos to show you and I even brought the small jars back to reuse.


Mustard and mayonaise


Chocolate mousse (pudding was the same)


Yogurt

Plastic is everywhere and finding out it isn't safe is overwhelming to say the least. Making changes can seem intimidating, even impossible but it isn't. The key is to take one step at a time --any reduction of your exposure to it will make a difference. Remember that you're a pioneer in choosing alternatives and some things are just not available yet in anything but plastic. I started making changes last year and I'm far from being done. I admit, I had to start thinking differently and changing my habits. These are a few of the changes we've made:

For packed lunches:
I use:
the yellow LunchBot* for C. de Lune's lunches. It's just the right size to fit in her lunch bag, it closes well and the separator is attached to the bottom. However, it isn't watertight. The LunchBot without a separator works well too.

*LunchBots are made in China --you can read what they contain, and how they're made on their website.

a small Klean Kanteen for her beverage.

an airtight stainless steel container for fruit pieces and other small foods.

the same steel container or small canning containers for wet foods like yogurt or applesauce. The plastic liner in the lid could have BPA, so I turn it around.

parchment paper to wrap sandwiches, muffins and cookies. I twist each ends like I saw them do in Paris, which looks like a huge wrapped candy. Wax paper does the trick too, but remember it's made from petroleum.

bambo utensils (for fun).

For foods storage:
I use:
LunchBots without separators
glass container with lock and lock plastic lids (we asked and they don't contain BPA or phthalates). I still wouldn't heat them up.
pyrex containers with plastic lids. Same deal.
the bigger sized airtight stainless steel containers.

For food preparation and eating:
I use:
stainless steel cooking utensils only;
steel colandars and cheese graters;
steel or ceramic mixing bowls;
usual dishes and glasses, no plastic.

For food purchases (this one is difficult):
I choose oils, condiments and juices in glass jars;
I buy meats and fish at the counter (the paper has a plastic lining, but it hasn't sat in it for long;
I buy butter instead of margarine (and it's real food --more on that in future posts);
I buy ice cream in cardboard boxes (although now I like making my own).
I'm working on more...

Sources
Sexy Hormones. F & W Ltd, Markham, 2007.