Plastic is a real problem—but don’t worry, there are real, simple solutions!

After watching an episode of Walk the Talk called Top 10 Ways to Get Plastic Out of Your Home, Yourself & Your Children, featuring Author of Plastic Purge, Michael SanClements, I—in the words of Waylon Lewis—“freaked out” just a little.

I guess you can say I always knew plastic was a huge part of our lives but I wasn’t aware just how surrounded by it I was on a daily basis. I also never really took into account the negative effects it had on my and my family’s health.

After watching, I was overwhelmed by the thought of toxins flowing through my body.

I decided to sit down, organize and simplify my new found knowledge in attempt to adjust my lifestyle to live a healthier, “plastic light” life…that is until I read the entire book Plastic Purge—then I’m sure I’ll have more work ahead of me!

To make this as smooth a transition as possible, I summarized ways to eliminate the amount of contact I have with plastic on a daily basis significantly and simply by following the suggestions made by Waylon and Michael.

I’ve decided to adjust how I eat, drink, shower, shop and umm well, you’ll see…

1. Eat.

Something Michael suggested in the video that I found interesting was to “shop the edges” of the grocery store. I can handle that. I’ve been trying to go Paleo for a few weeks anyway so that concept will help remind me to stay away from the plastic wrapped, processed food.

Michael even suggests that the plastic food is wrapped, stored and microwaved in may play a role in making people fat, whoa! I work hard making healthy choices and working out (well, kind of, sort of, sometimes). I am not okay with plastic putting on a few pounds; I’d much prefer indulge in some cake.

The next aspect to changing the way I eat is how I store my food.

Those plastic storage containers everyone uses emit toxins and l for one am not spending all that extra dough on organic food just to have it sit in a chemical filled container! I need to look into buying glass or stainless steel products. Michael suggests mason jars and Pyrex.

Waylon also talks about avoiding canned foods considering they are loaded with chemicals, some of which have not been tested. Michael warns that BPA free isn’t a healthy guarantee considering many products that claim to be BPA free either have BPF, BPS or other more toxic chemicals as a substitute.

I constantly have to remind myself that not everyone is my friend. See, I’m a lover of all things and lovers like to see the best in people. But let’s keep shit real, food corporations are not our friends and they are not to be trusted. They are responsible for one thing, making a profit! Never trust the reassuring bullshit they print on a label. It’s a beautiful façade, I’ve learned to do my own research.

2. Drink.

I plan on starting with our travel containers, let’s face it, as Americans we are on the go more often than not. Imagine the reduction of toxins you could accomplish by simply bringing your own drinks coffee and water wherever you go.

Those to-go cups have plastic linings that when come in contact with hot liquids, vaporize toxins that go right into your lungs when you inhale. Mmm, nothing like getting what you pay for, right? Sounds a bit dramatic and that’s because it is actually quite serious! In the video, Michael, he says that 90 percent of adults have chemicals from plastic in their bodies.

That grosses me out! I mean, who am I, a Barbie doll?

Remember that huge scare a few years back on the toxins emitted from plastic water bottles when they heated by the sun? I didn’t think much of it back then, I just bought stainless steel water bottles, used them for six months or so and then lost interest in the topic.

Well, now that I know how literally surrounded by plastic I am, I think it’s crucial to consider every possible angle at this point to ensure my family’s health. Michael suggests using mason jars and reminds us that as long as we leave some extra space at the top, we can even freeze them, super easy fix!

3. Shower.

This one is crazy simple: I need to switch over my low-quality plastic shower curtain to cloth or hemp.

You know when you change your shower curtain and you smell that fresh “new car smell” emanating from it? Well yeah, hate to break it to you but that’s pretty much poison.

Being naked with hot water vaporizing right next to you is definitely not an ideal situation for the health of our lungs and open pores.

We are literally polluting our insides while we attempt to clean our outsides!

What a mindf*ck.

4. Shop.

I mentioned before Michael’s idea of shopping around the edges of the store.

This new practice will help me make healthier food, avoid the colorful ads marketed to grab my children’s attention and I will also be doing my fair share in eliminating plastic waste.

Considering the fact that I see plastic recycling bins all over the place, I honestly thought that the majority of it ended up recycled, but that’s not the case. Michael said that a huge portion of recycled plastic still ends up in landfills.

Another point made was the amount of bags we collect while shopping, especially when buying produce. We all have been conditioned to believe that all our produce needs its own bag when in reality its just another form of waste.

There is such an easy fix for that, re-usable tote bags, they even have produce ones (I bought my first set today, I felt super cool and responsible too.)

The only problem I saw with this change in my life was… what am I going to use to pick up my dog’s poop? I guess ill have to add a pooper-scooper to my list of things to pick up this week…

5. Masturbate.

Yes, I said it. People, it’s time to adjust the way you masturbate if it involves plastic. Okay, I even giggled a little… but as funny as it all sounds, I’m serious.

Did you know that sex toys are considered novelty items and because of that small but crucial technicality, they are not intended for use? This loophole allows for zero regulations on the materials that they are made out of to “ensure” our safety.

I don’t know anyone who’s ever bought a dildo with the intention of looking at it from afar…. Let’s be honest, they are bought to be used and in doing so, countless people expose some of their most sensitive body parts to chemicals and materials that no one regulates and are linked to cancer.

I don’t know about you but I’m selective in what goes near my baby-maker…toxic cancer-causing plastics are not allowed!

An easy adjustment to this could be buying toys made from different materials like glass or silicone or going the au naturel route…

So there are the five simple life adjustments I plan on making to live a plastic light life, thank you Waylon and Michael for the new found knowledge and inspiration!

“Everyone can do simple things to make a difference, and every little bit really does count.” ~ Stella McCartney

 

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Editor: Renée Picard

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