Every hour, we throw away millions of items: 5.7 million toothpaste tubes, 570,000 cell phones, and 2.3 million sneakers. This is just a glimpse into our plastic problem. The production of plastics is harmful to both our health and the environment, and it’s on the rise. Podcaster Nate Hagens discusses this with experts Dr. Leo Trasande, Linda Birnbaum, and Christina Dixon.
Check out this video to learn more about the impact of plastics.
Here are some key points to consider:
- Recycling plastics often delays their disposal instead of solving the problem.
- Plastics contain many chemicals, many of which are toxic and untested.
- Known chemicals in plastics are linked to serious health issues like autism, ADHD, infertility, and diabetes.
Linda Birnbaum, a prominent environmental scientist, said, “Climate change – or much of it – may be reversible. I’m not positive we can reverse the contamination of our world … with the tremendous amounts of plastic that will essentially never go away.”
This issue is crucial. Plastics are deeply tied to various environmental challenges, impacting our climate, water, oceans, soil, and biodiversity. The increase in plastic use has led to significant destruction in recent decades. Understanding how severe this crisis is and exploring real solutions can help us make informed choices.
Source link
chemical regulation, climate change, endocrine disrupting chemicals, energy, environmental health, fossil fuels, petrochemicals, plastic pollution, public health, toxics
