...Thank you for giving us all we need to exist, and so much more.  You are the source of all that sustains us. 

We humans sometimes take you for granted.  The pain and destruction we have inflicted on you is truly horrifying.  Yet, you accept it and continue embracing us in your glory - in your healing energy vibrating so high that if we choose to experience it we can fly to unimagined realms of creative inspiration and blessed peace.  Even if we don't make that conscious choice, you still embrace us, day in, day out.

On this Earth Day, 22 April 2013, we would like to apologize on behalf of humanity for the toxic plastic waste that litters your skin, waterways and organs.  People are now waking up and realizing how serious a problem this is. Yes, it negatively affects your intricate systems so deeply, including all levels of the food chain maintaining life on You. 

We see great hope for change.  Efforts are underway, and the younger generations rising into positions of power - especially, finally, the women - see clearly through the lies and propaganda that end up harming you.  Yes, there is great hope.  And of course the greatest source of hope is You.

Thank you, and with Love from Life Without Plastic

3 April 2013 -- We're just back from India where Co-Owner Jay has three aunts and many cousins. It was a spicy, soothing and spiritual time visiting family in Mumbai, Kolkata and Delhi.  We also had excellent meetings with some of our suppliers. You can read more about our trip in our recent blogpost: India Rising...Above Plastic.

One thing that may astonish any new visitor to India is the sight of free-roaming cows. They go where they please. The holy cow, described by Mahatma Gandhi and others as the Mother of India, is considered sacred and protected from slaughter in most Indian states.  But there is much more to wandering cows than their holy stature.

Nowhere is the sad direct consequence of plastic pollution more obvious than in the streets of large Indian cities where one can see cows ingesting plastic regularly while grazing on food scraps in garbage.  Plastic can look like food to the cow and is intimately mixed with food waste.  The plastic accumulates and accumulates in the cow's four stomachs (yes, cows have four stomachs) until the digestive system can no longer function and the cow dies an excruciatingly painful death.

Recognizing the cow as an icon for all animals dying from plastic pollution, the dynamic South Indian Karuna Society for Animals and Nature has initiated a Plastic Cow Project to bring attention to the issue.  They perform surgery on cows to remove plastic (sometimes over 50 kgs/110 lbs in a single cow), initiate public interest litigation to ban plastic bags, and conduct India-wide outreach, partly through an excellent 34-minute documentary entitled The Plastic Cow (watch it below).

20 March 2013 -- Check out this new ebook, Invisible Plastic, in which award-winning science writer Alanna Mitchell sets out on a quest to find out just what happens to plastic on the high seas. Her story is riveting, and essential reading for everyone concerned about this growing and worrying issue. The book is only $2.99 on iTunes: http://itunes.ca/StarDispatches.

Listen to Allana talk about the problem of plastics in the ocean in this interview she gave on the CBC show Quirks & Quarks just a few weeks ago: http://www.cbc.ca/video/news/audioplayer.html?clipid=2335696113.

1 March 2013 -- A joint report by the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) and the World Health Organization (WHO) entitled, "State of the Science of Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals - 2012" was released on February 19, 2013. 

Endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) leach from numerous types of plastic, and are now present throughout the environment, including in oceans and the air. 

The report is the most comprehensive overview of research on endocrine disrupting chemicals to date, and highlights associations between such hormone disrupting chemicals and serious health problems - for example, the potential for such synthetic chemicals to contribute to the development of non-descended testes in young males, breast cancer in women, prostate cancer in men, developmental effects on the nervous system in children, attention deficit /hyperactivity in children and thyroid cancer.

If you're looking for ways to reduce your exposure to EDC's in everyday life, Environmental Defence provides handy Tips and Guides on how to avoid these synthetic chemicals that are all around us.