Wakefield, 8 June 2010 -- Today is World Oceans Day. Why not celebrate by not disposing of any plastic today? Just thinking about plastic in this way will make you realize how much it likely plays an integral part of your life. In honour of World Ocean's Day we would like to highlight the PLASTIKI, a Kontiki-like seacraft made of over 12,000 plastic bottles, which is currently sailing across the Pacific Ocean to raise awareness about marine pollution - the majority of which is plastic (we won't even get into oil in this post). According to the voyage tracker, the Plastiki is currently passing the island of Tuvalu. Here are some recent ocean pollution stats from the Plastiki FAQ page:

- It is estimated that almost all of the marine pollution in the world is comprised of plastic materials. The average proportion varies between 60% and 80% of total marine pollution.
- In many regions in the northern and southern ocean Gyres, plastic materials constitute as much as 90 to 95% of the total amount of marine debris.
- Scientists estimate that every year at least 1 million seabirds and 100,000 marine mammals and sea turtles die when they entangle themselves in plastic pollution or ingest it.

The Expedition Leader is David de Rothschild, a self-described flexible, cheerful, observant, persistent, impulsive, stubborn, distractible Brit who lives under a mushroom and can't live without ginger. Here is an excerpt from his blogpost today for World Oceans Day: 

"Put simply, in essence, whichever way you want to slice it, we are all part ocean. In basic terms:
No Oceans = No You and Me!
No Oceans = no place to hide the 41% of carbon that is so conveniently and fortunately absorbed by our oceans.
No Oceans = no protein supply to one fifth of the world population.
No Oceans = no home for the estimated 50-80% of all life on earth that lives under the surface of our oceans."

Image credit: Plastiki

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...