Wakefield, 14 May 2010 -- On May 6th, the President's Cancer Panel released a landmark report entitled REDUCING ENVIRONMENTAL CANCER RISK What We Can Do Now. The report raises clear flags about chemical regulation and the dangers of certain chemicals to health. Pulitzer Prize-winning New York Times op-ed columnist Nicholas D. Kristof read the landmark 200-page report and has written a succinct overview of the report in his opinion piece New Alarm Bells About Chemicals and Cancer. He describes the President's Cancer Panel - which is made up of three reknowned cancer experts who review the US cancer program and report directly to the President - as the "Mount Everest of the medical mainstream" and "the mission control of mainstream scientific and medical thinking". Most refreshingly, the report firmly advocates a shift in the regulatory system from a reactionary to a precautionary approach, including taking preventive action in the face of uncertainty regarding the effects of many chemicals on health. 

There are detailed sections on various chemicals that leach from plastics - including endocrine disruptors like bisphenol A (BPA) and phthalates - and the report even makes the following recommendation, and many others, to individuals for implementation in daily life:

"Storing and carrying water in stainless steel, glass, or BPA- and phthalate-free containers will reduce exposure to endocrine-disrupting and other chemicals that may leach into water from plastics. This action also will decrease the need for plastic bottles, the manufacture of which produces toxic by-products, and reduce the need to dispose of and recycle plastic bottles. Similarly, microwaving food and beverages in ceramic or glass instead of plastic containers will reduce exposure to endocrine-disrupting chemicals that may leach into food when containers are heated."

How encouraging that the medical and scientific mainstream are finally aware of and even recommending preventive precautionary action regarding the dangers associated with plastics.

Cancer cell photo credit:  http://www.under-microscope.com/cancer_cells/

Wakefield, 22 April 2010 -- Happy Earth Day! Here at Life Without Plastic we consider every day Earth Day, but it is good to feel the momentum of the whole world focusing on Mother Earth at the same time. Like Earth Hour, that collective positive energy can only be a good thing and help increase environmental awareness. We were pleased to see the Huffington Post's challenge to humanity on how best to take action on Earth Day:  7 Things You Can Do For Earth Day That Actually Matter.  And what is action #1?  It's simple really:  Stop Using Plastic.  And here is what the good folks at Huffington Post have to say about plastic:

"There is no doubt that plastics are notoriously bad. Americans dispose of 10.5 million tons of plastic garbage every year, and about 8% of the world's annual oil production is used toward the creation of plastic products. A single plastic bottle can spend anywhere from 100 to 1000 years in a landfill, and while recycling plastics helps save up to 60% of the energy used to make new products, they are often "downcycled" which doesn't curb the demand for more plastic to be produced, and it does little to prevent plastics leeching cancer-causing chemicals. Thanks to our wasteful habits, we've created huge islands of plastics in both the Pacific and Atlantic, and we not only kill up to a million sea creatures every year with plastic, but also ingest toxins that have made their way up the food chain from this waste.

Imagine the wonderful impact on the environment if you stopped using those 190 pounds of plastic each year. Say NO to plastics, and make your commitment by pledging with others at the Plastic Pollution Coalition."  So be a part of the growing awareness and do what you can to reduce your plastic use. Be like the trees and reach for the sky...

Washington, D.C., 15 April 2010 -- On March 29th, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced a bisphenol A (BPA) action plan to look deeper into the potential effects of BPA.  The plan focuses on the environmental effects of BPA and will consider adding the chemical to the EPA's 'chemicals of concern', a new list announced on December 30, 2009, and currently including phthalates and polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs). The BPA action plan is available on the EPA website.

BPA is used to make the hard, clear plastic polycarbonate (#7), which is used for water and baby bottles, the linings of metal food cans, and numerous other common products.  Billions of pounds of BPA are produced each year, and over one million pounds of BPA are released into the environment annually.  What effect is that having on living beings? Peer-reviewed scientific research is increasingly linking BPA, which is an endocrine disruptor, to numerous adverse health effects ranging from developmental problems to cancers. What we also know is that when people are tested, BPA inevitably shows up in their bodies, if not through exposure from the chemical leaching out of food containers into their food, then likely from environmental exposure. For a fascinating example of such test results, check out one of our favorite books: Slow Death by Rubber Duck by the good folks at Environmental Defence.

Image credit: Photo by Nigel Cox from the eye-opening 2009 Fast Company article 'The Real Story Behind Bisphenol A', which uncovers a long history of corporate-government collusion and conflicts of interest in refuting and covering up the growing body of solid, non-industry funded, scientific research pointing to the dangers of BPA. Definitely worth a read.

Montreal, 23 March 2010 - Life Without Plastic is thrilled to be a sponsor for virtuoso eco-musician Frank Horvat's Green Keys Tour of solo piano performances across Canada. And what makes an 'eco-musician', you ask? According to Frank it means the musician is carrying on their professional activities in a sustainable way and minimizing their carbon footprint. Take a look at all the ways Frank is doing this on The Green(ing) Musician page of his website. The tour will raise funds for the Earth and promote Frank's latest CD - A Little Dark Music - of original piano compositions, which explore "real world themes like the environment, poverty and Sept 11. Despite the somewhat sombre and serious subject matter, A Little Dark Music attempts to bring peace, joy and contentment to its listeners." Here is a man with vision, making music with vision, and saving the Earth along the way. We hope you will get a chance to hear Frank play. We are sponsoring his Montreal concert on April 11, 2010, but tour dates are happening all across the country through 2010 and into 2011.