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Recently I was listening to NPR and an interview they had with a woman that wrote a book on her experience breaking up with plastic. (Plastic Free- How I Kicked the Plastic Habit and How You Can Too) The author talked about how she heard about how much plastic goes in our landfills, but she didn't start worrying about the problem until she read about the Great Pacific garbage patch.
After that, she decided that she was going to make some changes in her life to try to drastically reduce or completely cut out all plastic out of her life. The interview was fascinating. I knew about some of the things that she talked about- one being that once most plastics are recycled, they often can't be recycled again because the compounds break down too much. I knew that toxic chemicals are often found in Tupperware and that every time I heat up a lunch that I have brought to work, I am eating those chemicals as well. (But have been too lazy to buy glass containers.) I also knew that BPA (Bisphenol A) has been found on paper receipts that we get every day at the store. What I didn't know is that when you throw your receipts in the recycling, the BPA then gets recycled into paper products.
Hearing this has made me start throwing out receipts instead of recycling them, but feeling sort of guilty because then the BPA is going into a landfill, to take however long to decompose. The main thing that it has reinforced is that I don't want to touch paper receipts. I think that I am getting paranoid about it. If I have to touch a receipt, I make to sure to get rid of it as soon as possible and to wash my hands as soon as possible, the whole time thinking about the BPA that is leeching into my skin. Every time I see a cashier I feel sorry for them because they are getting BPA on their hands all day long. And obviously if I have the choice of a paper or emailed receipt, I go for the email receipt.
Based on the interview, I have ordered the book and I'm excited to start reading it. I look forward to figuring out ways to reduce the plastic in my life and making my home and body a little healthier. If these are things that I can do prior to the baby getting here then I am all for it. I'll let you know what I think of the book after I finish it! (She also has a blog if you are interested in checking it out.)
*I have not been asked to review nor given a copy of this book.*
7 comments:
I didn't know paper receipts have BPA in them!! ahhh! And I've never been offered an email receipt, but I think that is a great option!!
I often tell the cashier I don't need my receipt before they even hand it to me so I don't have to touch it.
Back home in Nova Scotia we have a world-class recycling program. I especially love the compostable program. You put your compost bin (along with your recyclables and garbage) curbside biweekly and the truck comes along and picks it up. If they find you sorting your garbage improperly they give you a $10.00 fine. I love it, and I wish they had this program all across North America!
I'm going to check out the link, thanks for sharing!
I'm the same with receipts - I always say "no thanks" to the cashier; and have been using glass Pyrex containers for years now (you HAVE to buy some, especially for heating anything in the microwave!!). A fantastic book to read in terms of cutting down all the toxins that sneak into your body is Death By Rubber Duck -- two scientists basically used themselves as guinea pigs to demonstrate how quickly/easily BPA, mercury, pesticides and other stuff gets into our systems.
I also highly recommend Sleeping Naked is Green, written by Yours Truly. :) Basically documents the year I spent being a total enviro freak and trying not to alienate my friends/family in the process... available on Amazon, if you want to investigate.
I'm kind of a freak about avoiding plastic and BPA. I'm lucky because the grocery store I shop at 95% of the time uses BPA-free receipts. They're very enviro-conscious.
I try not to touch other receipts, but it happens.
I never heat anything in plastic & recommend you get some glass containers!
How cool that YeahScience wrote a book! I'm going to have to check that out.
Some stores use receipt paper that is BPA free! For example, I was at Trader Joe's the other day and was waiting while the cashier changed out the receipt roll. Lo and behold, the wrapping on the roll noted that it was BPA free. Good to know!
It's so hard to eliminate plastic these days. We got rid of a lot, though. After our 2nd IVF failed my husband became convinced that environmental toxins were part of the problem. We got rid of tupperware and got glass containers, got a percolator to make coffee that has no plastic parts. We tae all plastic wrapping off of anything we cook in the microwave. We avoid plastic water bottles as much as we can but sometimes when you are out and need water you just have to suck it up. We aren't freaks about it, but we have reduced quite a bit, I think.
It's a scary world out there, for sure. I'd heard similar terrible things about receipts and try to refuse them as often as I can. I didn't know that recycling them could be so bad, so I'm going to stop doing that immediately.
Thanks for bringing more awareness to this topic. It's something that my husband and I should put more thought into. It's sad and scary all the toxins that are out there.
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