Plasticity and the Art of Recycling
Though not truly a technology on its own, plastic has become as prevalent as computer chips. Computer chips themselves are made up of mostly silicon, which is sourced from sand. There’s also a trace of plastic in the chips. But this article isn’t about computers, per se, but instead of the technology of plastic recycling.
Most of us want to do our part to keep the planet healthy. Well, let me rephrase… most of us who are reading this article want to do our part in keeping the planet healthy. Others have to be illumed into why it’s so great to do so. Living in south Florida and other parts of the country, as well as visiting other countries, has revealed to me how much plastic waste abounds. We all love the convenience of plastic in consumer goods, and we think that if we put the rinsed containers in the recycling bin, we can feel good that it will be put to use again. It’s a nice thought!
The truth is vastly far from this idea. Plastic recycling studies show that only roughly 5% of plastic makes it into another product. The rest of it is burned, buried, or thrown into the environment. From the production to the destruction of plastic products, so many toxic chemicals are dumped into our bodies and the environment. Our brains are branded to think that the sea turtles are the main victims of plastics, but the truth is that the whole world suffers.
Here are a couple of articles that show where we are with plastic recycling. Spoiler alert! It’s ain’t pretty: NPR Article and PlasticPollutionCoalition Article
Okay, that’s enough with the negative stuff 💩. Good techs don’t harp on the doom and gloom. Instead, we offer solutions, or at the very least, workarounds. So here’s how we can do better:
Reduce > Reuse > Recycle
We all have been indoctrinated to this catchphrase. What most of us don’t realize is that those words were meant to be exactly in that order.
- We need to 1. Reduce our reliance on consumer plastics by purchasing glass and stainless steel objects that are truly reusable and don’t pollute our bodies and environment with toxic chemicals. But reducing also means taking a survey on what we really need, and reducing our overall consumption of physical goods. And for crying out loud, bring in cloth or other grocery shopping bags to stop the single use plastics out there.
- We must 2. Reuse the plastics that we purchase, but in a safe manner. Certain plastics leach harmful chemicals when heated or damaged, so look to get plastics that are food safe and are durable enough to last a very long time. For example, #1 PET is very commonly found as water or other liquid containers, which is safe unless it is heated. Overheated #1 PET causes antimony leach which is a toxic chemical. #1 PET is also not intended for multiple uses.
- 3. Recycle the right ones. Look closely at the number in the triangle at the bottom of the product. #1 PET and #2 HDPE plastics are the most recyclable ones out there. But I read that #2 is much safer for consumption purposes, so go for that one if you must use it for food containers.
If you’re wanting a good source of water, it can easily be done using a stainless steel water bottle and a Berkey Water Filter system. Alexapure (website) is very similar and actually gets out fluoride as well. (You don’t want to ingest too much fluoride!) Both of these systems use gravity water filtration and can get you as good as, if not better, water quality than bottled water. As an additional benefit, these filters can take outdoor water (like from lakes and such) and make drinking water in case of an emergency!
Utilize the power of Google to find out great alternatives to plastics. In return for your efforts, your health will improve, and wildlife everywhere will be singing our praises! And when the friendly aliens finally decide to make contact, we won’t have to be embarrassed by all the littering everywhere. Then we can show that we are worthy of being invited into the Galactic Alliance of Sentient Persons (GASP).
Thanks for reading this article. I truly appreciate your time!
