PREGNANT WITH MY DAUGHTER ALMOST 10 YEARS AGO, I fell down many a rabbit hole researching the best products for infant care.
By best I meant healthiest. I knew car seats, laundry detergents and other necessary items often contain toxins from fire retardants, fragrances and other chemicals. I knew before my obsessive pregnancy-driven research that I wanted to avoid plastics as well.
For the first six months of my daughter’s life, I kept plastic out of her reach. She didn’t have any plastic toys until I broke my rule with a baby toy that I still think is really cool — the Mozart Cube. This large cube has a different musical instrument represented on each side, which plays melodies individually, as a duet with another instrument or all of them together.
She wasn’t going to be teething on it, so I decided it was OK. From that exception it was a slippery slope and within a few years I wasn’t limiting plastic at all.
A new study, which I read about on CNN, has reinvigorated my motivation to reduce plastic in my family’s environment.
The article reported on the first study to link between plastic contamination and human disease. Specifically, it found micro plastics in carotid arteries of 58% (out of a group of 257 people) of patient tissue examined.
Polyethylene, a common plastic used in food containers (from plastic wrap to soda cups) was found in measurable amount in these tissues.
The patients were followed for 34 months, and those with plastic in their arteries were twice as likely to die from heart attack, stroke or other causes, and the plastic plaque showed higher levels of inflammation.
Nanoplastics have been found in mother’s milk, the liver, blood and in other places throughout our bodies. However, there isn’t research on how this will affect our bodies — although we do know that plastics contain endocrine disruptors, some contain PFAS (forever chemicals known to be toxic), others contain phthalates and other harmful chemicals.
Of course, more research is needed. We still know neither the short- nor long-term effects of ingesting and inhaling microplastics.
My thought is — it’s probably not good.
Since eliminating plastic from our lives is practically impossible in today’s world, I’m focusing on reducing the plastic touching our food.
This mission is also practically impossible. Although I cook mostly from scratch, raw ingredients both from the farmers market and from grocery stores often come wrapped in plastic.
Some easy switches are making my own yogurt and other cultured dairy products using milk bottled in glass and storing leftovers in glass or metal containers instead of upcycling plastic containers.
Buying in bulk is one way to reduce plastic food wrappers, especially for things like granola and rice.
Harder switches will be chips and cheese. While I’d love to make all of my family’s cheese, I am realistic enough to know that isn’t going to happen any time soon.
I know that I won’t be able to get rid of all harmful things in our lives. Some of these are important — such as our cars, refrigerators, medical equipment, etc. But I am hoping that reducing the amount of plastics we eat, while also generally trying to eat well, benefits both my family and our environment.
Most of the switches are to things I’ve done before and just lately opted for the more convenient option. Avoiding plastics takes extra time and energy, but I look forward to both the results and (selfimposed) necessity to spend more time and thought on my family’s food.
ALDONA BIRD is a journalist using experience gained working on organic farms in Europe to help her explore possibilities of local productivity and sustainable living in Preston County. Email columns@dominionpost.com.
