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Ten Simple Things You Can Do to Reduce Plastic Pollution

By Joel D. Joseph, CEO, 

California Association for Recycling All Trash (www.calrecycles.com) and author of 50 Ways to Reduce Plastic Pollution. 

1. Plastic pollution is slowly killing us. The prestigious New England Journal of Medicine (March, 2024) recently reported that for the first time scientists have linked tiny plastic particles, the result of degraded plastic pollution, to cardiovascular disease.  Researchers have cataloged thousands of chemicals found in plastic. Many of these have been linked to health hazards, according to Tracy Woodruff, PhD, a professor of reproductive sciences at the University of California, San Francisco, School of Medicine. Dr. Maricel Maffini, a scientist with the Natural Resources Defense Council, found that many plastics are used widely but have yet to be adequately studied or tested for safety. What’s more, tiny bits of plastic, known as microplastics, break off plastic all the time and are now found in food, water and air. And these tiny bits of plastic not only can leach chemicals but also may present risks all their own. Plastic particles have been found in human arteries, lungs and many other body parts.
2. In addition, plastic particles are killing bees. Microplastics are now so abundant in bee hives that they are interfering with bee reproduction. 13 different synthetic polymers were found in bees according to a study of honeybees and microplastics in Denmark.  The study was published in Science of the Total Environment (May, 2021). Albert Einstein once said that if bees are eliminated, humans have only four years to live.
3. Here are ten simple things you can do to protect yourself and your family, and your community, from plastic pollution:
4. Get rid of plastic cutting      boards.   Cutting carrots on a plastic cutting board      can release up to 15 milligrams of microplastics per cut, or about 50      grams per year. These small plastic particles will be ingested along with      your vegetables. 
5. Don’t use plastic water      bottles. 600 billion plastic water bottles are disposed of      annually worldwide.  A quart of bottled water can contain      around 240,000 plastic particles with about 90% of those being      nanoplastics.  Nanoplastics are      extremely small plastic particles, too small to be seen by the naked eye.      Use metal water bottles or glassware.
6. Avoid plastic produce bags. Around 5 trillion plastic bags are      produced annually worldwide, which is equivalent to 160,000 plastic bags      every second. If laid side by side, these bags could circle the world      seven times. Use paper bags instead of plastic, or use biodegradable      plastic bags. Trader Joe’s provides      biodegradable plastic produce bags.
7. Don’t use liquid laundry      detergent. 620 million detergent bottles are disposed of in      the U.S.  per year. Use powdered detergent or detergent      sheets.
8. Avoid plastic storage bags. The average American family uses 500 zippered plastic storage bags every      year. This totals a whopping 50 billion plastic bags a year. Use glass jars instead of plastic bags.
9. Buy an organic mattress.      Many mattresses contain plastics that offgas chemicals. In the United      States, approximately 20 million mattresses are thrown away each year      which is about 55,000 mattresses per day. Globally, only about 19% of      mattresses are recycled,
10. Don’t use plastic cups. 500 billion plastic cups are manufactured      worldwide each year. Replace these with paper cups or glassware.
11. Avoid plastic hangers. Eight billion plastic hangers are thrown      away every year. Switch to metal or wooden hangers.
12. Don’t use plastic tape.     A leading plastic tape manufacturer produces over 12 million miles of tape      each year, which is the equivalent of 22 miles per minute. Paper tape      works well for shipping packages. As an alternative, you can use 3M Box      Lock paper packaging tape.
13. Avoid bubble wrap. Around 240,000 miles of bubble wrap are      produced each year, which is enough to circle the Earth's equator ten      times. As an alternative, you can use 3M Cushion Lock packing material which      is made out of paper.
14. If everyone reduces plastic use, we will have a cleaner, less polluted planet. Do your part. It will make you and your family healthier and help solve a massive worldwide problem.

Plastic Pollution is an Existential Threat to Humans

By Joel D. Joseph, CEO, California Association for Recycling All Trash, author of 50 Ways to Reduce Plastic Pollution, Plastic Pollution Solution and The Age of Plastic, A Children’s Book (under pseudonym George Poppel)

The phrase “a canary in the coalmine” denotes an early indicator of potential danger. It refers to the former practice of taking live canaries into coal mines to test for the presence of toxic gases, particularly carbon monoxide. The illness or death of the canaries served as an indication that such gases were present.

The two warning signs about the harm that plastic is causing are the connection between bees dying out and human sperm counts plummeting. Bees and sperm counts are the new canaries in the coal mine, deadly warning signs that human life is in danger.

Both bees and sperms appear to be very sensitive to plastic pollution and other environmental hazards like pesticides. 

Declining Sperm Counts

Declining sperm counts are an “indicator that there is something very wrong in our modern environment or lifestyle,” says Dr Hagai Levine, head of the environmental health track at the Hebrew University-Hadassah School of Public Health in Israel. “We need to identify what the causes are and fix them. Otherwise, it’s dangerous to our future and maybe irreversible.”

Microplastics—that is, plastic particles which are five millimeters or less across or in length—have entirely covered the planet. Animals accidentally eat microplastics all the time and plants regularly absorb them through their roots. Humans themselves ingest the rough equivalent of a credit card’s worth of plastic each week.

In a recent study, scientists at Nottingham University found that two chemicals common in home environments damage the quality of sperm in both men and dogs. The Guardian, May 24, 2019.

The culprits implicated are diethylhexyl phthalate (DEHP), used to make new plastics more pliable, and polychlorinated biphenyl 153 (PCB153), found in older plastics and electrical equipment. Companies stopped producing PCBs in the late 1970s due to their health risks–including a possible increased risk of cancer, hormone disruption, liver damage and behavioral or cognitive deficits in children exposed to the chemical in utero–but the chemical persists in the environment.

The Nottingham study is just one in a mounting pile of research findings indicating that the quality and quantity of men’s sperm is declining significantly. Research suggests that sperm counts have dropped by half in the last 50 years and that a higher percentage of sperms are poor swimmers–slow, ungainly or beset by genetic flaws and thus unlikely to fertilize eggs.

And, in a 2016 study of sperm collected from stud dogs, Richard G. Lea, an associate professor of reproductive biology at the University of Nottingham’s School of Veterinary Medicine and Science discovered that the number of good swimmers decreased by 30% over a 26-year period.

Chemicals from plastics are particularly worrisome because they are so ubiquitous. Roughly two-thirds of the plastic ever produced has been released into the environment and show up as tiny particles in the air, water and soil. Eventually those plastics collect in the tissues and fluids in our bodies. Lea says he focused on two compounds that “consistently popped up” in his analysis of dog food, sperm and testes tissues from routine neutering procedures. The most obvious concern of dropping sperm counts is infertility. But birth rates have been declining in industrialized countries for decades, he says, and it’s not clear that’s entirely by choice.

Recent studies suggest that 20-30% of young men today have sperm counts in a range that is associated with reduced fertility according to Prof. Niels Skakkebaek of the University of Copenhagen. Professor Skakkebaek won the 2021 European Hormone Medal presented by the European Society of Endocrinology.

Bees are Disappearing

Bees lie at the heart of our survival. They pollinate one in three bites of food we eat and are essential to the health and prosperity of countless ecosystems.

However, bees are in peril. According to the Center for Biological Diversity, more than half of North America’s 4,000 native bee species are in decline, with one in four species at risk of extinction.

As honeybees make their way through the world, they are ideally suited to pick up bits and pieces of plastic along the way. Bees are covered with hairs that have evolved to hold tiny particles that the bee collects intentionally or simply encounters in its daily travels. These hairs become electrostatically charged in flight, which helps attract the small plastic particles. Pollen is the most obvious substance that gets caught up in these hairs, but so do plant debris, wax and even bits of other bees.

Now, another material has been added to that list: plastics. Specifically, 13 different synthetic polymers, according to a study of honeybees and microplastics in Denmark. The study was published in 2022 in Science of the Total Environment.

It’s well established that microplastics are spread extensively around the planet. Yet scientists are still learning how they move through the atmosphere. Sampling them is difficult and most research of airborne microplastics to date has been conducted at ground level, scientists say.

It turns out that honeybees—and all those hairy legs and bodies—provide a viable means for better assessing the distribution of windborne plastic fibers and fragments. Thanks to their large numbers and wide-ranging foraging, honeybees can be drafted as living probes of how microplastics are scattered around the world.

“This work demonstrates for the first time the possibility of using honeybees as a bioindicator for the presence of microplastics in the environment,” according to Prof. Robert Rosal at the University Alcala in Madrid, Spain. National Geographic, May 24, 2021. Albert Einstein said, “If the bee disappears from the surface of the Earth, man would have no more than four years to live.”  The world must address the harm caused by plastic pollution before it is too late, by drastically reducing plastic pollution and by cleansing the oceans of as much plastic as possible.

Plastic Tea Bags

May Be Killing You

By Joel D. Joseph

(Mr. Joseph is the CEO of WarAgainstPlastic.com)

I have always believed that tea was very healthy. Unfortunately, during the past ten years, many tea companies have replaced paper tea bags with plastic tea bags.

Microbiologists at the Independent University of Barcelona (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, UAB), Spain, studied plastic released by three different tea bags and their effect on human cells. This study was conducted in 2024. Ricardo Marcos Dauder, one of the study authors from UAB, said, “when scientists talk about microplastics, they don't just mean plastic that degrades and produces small pieces of plastic, but pieces of plastic that can be easily measured in micrometers: between 1 and 1000 micrometers, equivalent to one thousandth to one millimeter. This study specifically looked at nanoplastics, measured between 1 and 1000 nanometers—which is even smaller.

"All the data shows that the smaller the size, the higher the uptake [of plastic] into the cells," said Dauder. "The smaller the size, the higher the risk."

The microbiologists found that commercially available tea bags released huge amounts of plastic particles into hot water when brewed.  They experimented with tea bags made from three plastics: polymers called polypropylene, nylon-6 and cellulose.

They found that tea bags containing polypropylene released approximately 1.2 billion particles of plastic per drop—or milliliter—of tea. Those containing cellulose released 135 million particles per drop and nylon-6 released 8.18 million particles per drop.

After 24 hours, a specific type of digestive cell that produces mucus in the intestines had absorbed considerable amounts of micro and nanoplastics. The plastics had even entered the nucleus of some of these cells, which is where genetic material is kept.

In 2023, the International Journal of Surgery published an article on the significant health risks posed by microplastics in tea bags. March 24, 2023. The article reported:

“Due to the potential health risks and negative impacts on the environment, the use of MPs in tea bags and other products is a major issue. In spite of the material’s nonbiodegradability, polypropylene is frequently used in manufacturing tea bags. Given that tea bags are subjected to high temperatures during the brewing process, it is concerning that certain branded teas are offered in tea bags made from allegedly ‘food grade’ polymers, such as nylon. In tea bags additionally available are fluorine compounds, arsenic, radium salt, aluminum, copper, lead, mercury, cadmium, barium, nitrates, and many more. So you are sipping tea and consuming these dangerous substances in the same bag. Tea bag plastics, which can take hundreds of years to decompose in nature, may fragment into [micro] particles. . . .” 

How to Protect Yourself 

The easiest way to protect yourself from plastic in tea bags is to brew your tea using loose leaf tea. You can also find tea bags that do not contain plastics. The following teas do not contain plastics:

• Stash Stash tea bags are free of microplastics and are non-GMO certified.  

• Republic of Tea Republic of Tea bags are plastic free, compostable, and come in a reusable tin  

• Lipton Quality Black and Intense These traditional tea bags are made from cellulose fibers and Manilla hemp, and are compostable  

• The Tea Spot The Tea Spot's sachets are made from sugar cane fibers, which are biodegradable and compostable.

•  Numi Tea -“Our teas are pesticide-free and non-GMO verified,” confirms a company rep. “Our tea bags are made from manila hemp cellulose, and free of epichlorohydrin. The tags are made from 100% recycled material and soy-based inks.”

• Rishi Tea - Rishi’s certified organic line is bagged with PLA—polylactic acid, creating “silken” bags. Unlike other “silky” bags, which can be made with PET plastic, these are corn- and potato starch-based. Adds Assistant Tea Buyer Jeff Champeau, “Our Natural Fiber Loose Leaf Tea Filters are made without glue or any other binding agent.”

• EDEN Organic- “The bags are made from oxygen washed manila fibers with no polluting whiteners used,” confirms company rep Wendy Esko.  “Once filled, the bags are crimped and sealed with 100% cotton string. No staples, plastics, or glue are ever used.”

• Organic Stash - “The filter paper used for the bags is made from 100% cellulose fibers (wood) and is made to appear white by forcing air between the fibers. No bleach is used,” explained at Stash. “The filter paper is not coated with the compound called epichlorohydrin, and does not contain any free epichlorohydrin.”

• Choice Organic Teas - One of the company’s consumer relations experts, Nia, assured consumers that their line is not only organic but free of epichlorohydrin.

• Two Leaves Organic Teas - “We pride ourselves on being pesticide-free as well as on having corn-based tea sachets,” says a company rep. The website adds, “Our sachets are made of biodegradable cornstarch based nylon, not petroleum based nylon.”

Organic Yogi Teas (USA & Canada) “We currently use a non-heat seal-able filtration paper made from a select blend of high quality manila hemp (abaca) fibers and wood pulp,” says a Yogi representative. “The filtration paper does not contain epichlorohydrin, nor plastic or polypropylene. It is oxygen bleached using a natural process that is completely free of chemicals or toxins, including dioxin.”

Brands With Tea Bags the Contain Plastic

Some of the largest tea companies, Tazo, Celestial and Mighty Leaf, use plastic tea bags. I have given these three companies legal notice under California Proposition 65, also known as the Safe Drinking Water and Toxic Enforcement Act of 1986. This law requires businesses to warn Californians about significant exposures to chemicals that may cause: cancer, birth defects, and other reproductive harm.  I asked these companies to either cease using plastic tea bags or to comply with the law and print a warning notice on their packages indicating that their tea could be hazardous to your health.  

PLASTIC PACKAGING CONTROL ACT    

A BILL

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

Plastic packaging creates massive amounts of plastic pollution. Plastic waste from packaging constitutes from 28 to 40 percent of all plastic waste. The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) determined that 40% of plastic waste comes from plastic packaging while the U.S. EPA found that plastic packaging was the source of 28.1 percent of all plastic trash. In either event plastic packaging must be reduced.

1.  Section One. Short Title. This act shall be known as the Plastic Packaging Control Act.

2. Section Two. Definitions.

(a) Plastics made from petrochemicals: Plastic made from petroleum or petroleum byproducts.

(b) Biodegradable plastics: Plastics made from plants with no petrochemicals.

(c) Compostable: Products that degrade in soil and/or water within 90 days.

3.  Section Three: Regulations. The Environmental Protection Agency shall enforce this act and shall have the authority to write regulations to aid in enforcement.

4.  Section Four: Product Packaging. All product packaging shall be made from bioplastics and compostable materials.

5.  Section Five: Shipping Boxes and Bags. All shipping boxes and bags shall be made from bioplastics and compostable materials.

6.  Section Six: Tape and Packing Materials. All packing tape and packing materials shall be made from bioplastics and compostable materials.

7.  Section Seven: Penalties and Enforcement. 

(a). Penalties. The penalty for violating this act shall be $1,000 per violation. Every package in violation of this act constitutes a separate violation of the act.

(b). Enforcement by EPA. EPA shall have the power to enforce this act in all courts of the United States, state and federal.

(c) Private Enforcement. Private citizens and non-profit organization have the right to enforce this act in state and federal courts. Private citizens and non-profit organization obtaining a judgment against a violator shall be entitled to keep one-half of the penalty and must submit the other half of the penalty to EPA.

8. Section Eight: Attorney’s Fees. EPA and successful private parties shall be entitled to attorneys’ fees. Defendants shall not be entitled to attorneys’ fees in any case, whether the defendant wins or loses.

9. Section Nine: Effective Date. This law shall go into effect on January 1, 2025.