Ewwww Plastics! No More!!

As you have read in my previous blogs, I am going room to room and cleaning out, attempting to make each place in our home Eco-Friendly.  As I am tossing out, I am also educating myself on our own personal ‘waste' and items we have purchased that were unsafe for us and our home.  The main item being plastics or as I like to call it "The Evil PVC."   Why do I consider it evil?  Well, I have learned that there are many in our homes ranging from food wraps to shampoo bottles that are unhealthy.  It makes me sick, literally, to think there isn't more legislation protecting our health, our families and our homes. 

The first one I learned about is plastic packaging stamped with V or PVC and the #3 or sometimes just the #3 in a triangle on the bottom, contains hormone-disrupting phthalates and widespread contaminants in the global environment.  Phthalates are added to PVC to make them pliable. When PVC comes in contact with heat, whether through food, water, air, or our bodies, cancer causing dioxins leach out. They are also associated with liver, kidney, and testicular damage.  This PVC is found in some cooking oil bottles, plumbing pipes, toys, cosmetics, cling wrap around meats and cheese from the grocer.   Some good wraps are like the one I use Saran Cling Wrap, although I am slowing weaning myself off of that too and am going to supply my home with more glass made storage containers. 

Another harmful plastic is PC (Polycarbonate) which you will find marked at PC7 or the #7 in the triangle on the bottom.  Why is this one also evil?  It has bisphenol A, which is a hormone-disrupting chemical.  PC can be found in food-storage containers, hard plastic drinking bottles, five gallon water jugs, plastic baby bottles, CD's & DVD's, and many liners in soda and food cans.  Like I said above, I am stocking my home (slowly of course) with glass containers.  We no longer drink soda in our home, I gave that garbage up a long time ago, and I am very limited on any canned organic  food I purchase now.

One last ‘Evil P'  is PS, also known as Styrofoam and the #6.  Now I have heard for years about the waste in Styrofoam and it shocks me to this day the amount of grocers, restaurants, coffee shops and convenient stores that send this garbage out their doors each day.  Lets also not forget the Super Centers!  Now, of course this stuff fills up landfills, but it is also dangerous, especially when warm.  Why?  It has known hormone-disruptor polystyrene that leaches chemicals into your food and coffee.  The materials that are used to make this polystyrene, which are benzene, styrene and butadiene are all highly suspected (or should I say known) carcinogens.  I don't know about you, but I DON'T need my takeouts or coffee in styrofoam!!  It just isn't worth the risk anymore.  Not even my eggs at the grocers - cardboard containers please!

There are some better plastics out there, but to be sure, there are some informative websites you can access for that and other household chemicals & toxins in the home.  Here are some links:

www.greenpeace.org

www.checnet.org

www.panda.org

www.foe.org

Here is a list of some the plastics that aren't as harmful, but again, no plastics is the safest way to go!

Polyproplene (PP)  

Polyethylene Terephthalate  (PET)

Polyethylene (HDPE)  or  (LDPE)

For information on us:   http://www.zoelifestyle.com/mspell