BY SHAY CULLEN
PLASTIC dust has been found in remote uninhabited places of the world. It shows that discarded plastic items, packaging, bottles and cups and gadgets slowly disintegrate and release and spread tiny particles to the food we eat, the air we breathe, the water we drink. They are carried on the wind like a toxic cloud that can slowly kill us.
Recycling is not the answer as more toxic chemicals are added to the old plastic to make more plastic. It is not the solution. Phasing out plastic is the only option. Replacing it with alternative safe materials like stainless steel glass, beeswax-coated wrapping and above all, platinum silicone, is the solution.
Products made with platinum silicone are found on online shopping sites. But we as members of the public have to be motivated to change our lifestyle away from plastic and demand change from the chemical industry and government to enact laws that make it mandatory to eliminate toxic chemical additives to their products and ban imports of such toxic-loaded products.
We can be motivated by the truth, by facing the reality and having a true and righteous concern, even fear, of ill-health and sickness and death of ourselves and our friends and children. All these can motivate us. Knowing the truth will make us committed to making and demanding a safer, healthier world free of toxic chemicals.
These toxic plastic particles that are invisible are a serious health hazard as the human body has not evolved to combat them. We are defenseless against the toxic man-made chemicals in every bit of plastic. They are deadly poisons that cause suffering and death. Yet we carelessly manufacture them, use them and discard them at our own terrible cost. For all we know, they and the toxic chemicals are causing cancers, infertility, and other diseases.
You don’t have to believe only what you read here. It is based on the international research findings of world-renowned organizations like the Pollutants Elimination Network (IPEN) that have joined forces with the International Pellet Watch (IIPW) and environmental groups in 35 countries including the Philippines. There are over a dozen environmental protection organizations in the Philippines, all striving to protect the environment, all deserving of support. A law known as the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act otherwise known as RA 9003 mandates the three Rs: Reduce, Reuse and Recycle. I suggest another- Replace.
By giving executive orders to all government agencies to replace plastic in offices and canteens and give tax breaks as incentive to hotels and restaurants to remove plastics and replace them with environment-friendly products could start a revolution in eliminating plastics. The supply of plastics can be reduced by reducing demand. It is the one thing that we can all do, look for the environment-friendly products. (preda.org)/PN
