No to Extremism...
Yes to Progress
What could be more relevant to your life than the possibility that you are consuming food with tiny pieces of plastic in it? Or drinking water as unrecycled plastic waste seeps into water supplies? Or risking medical problems because plastic materials filter throughout your body? When it comes to poisoned food and water, does it really what political party you belong to?
News reports amply note proliferation of microscopic plastic materials in our oceans - material consumed by plankton up the food chain into fish, which, in turn, we eat… be concerned about that next tunafish sandwich.
The public has been misled. According to a 2022 report by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, 72% of plastics end up in landfills or elsewhere. Just 9% of all plastics produled were recycled.This serious threat is little discussed by leaders in Washington. Considering the proliferation of recycling bins in residences, one wonders what actually happens once the plastics are carted away.
Vast amounts of plastics end up in oceans, dumped by us, China, Japan, Mexico, Europe. Plastics pollution is worldwide - the Pacific, Atlantic and Indian Oceans; The Mediterranean and Caribbean seas…
Once plastics, from bottles to bags, end up in the oceans, it breaks down eventually into microscopic material, which is then ingested by tiny creatures and, eventually, by the fish… and eventually by us.
Who could doubt the relationship between cancer or illnesses with consumption of plastic? One even wonders if plastic in our bloodstream affects mental health nationwide. Could there be a correlation between plastic consumption and mental health problems, anger, or mass shootings? We don’t know. Maybe it’s time to ask such questions and find out.
A large percentage never gets recycled, and it should. We need to turn up the volume when it comes to this mounting problem. A good place to start is to vastly improve recycling of plastics in cities and towns throughout the country. And through international treaties, get China Japan, Europe - everyone - to do likewise. It’s time to address how irresponsible the majority Americans are in recycling all kinds of plastic daily. It’s time to ensure that government and corporations actually recycle.
Is government doing too little really an option? Do you want to endlessly fear what’s in your next plate of food or glass of water?
Salmon, anyone?
PLASTICS
in
FOOD