What do you see when you see a plastic bag?
Some may see a harmless vessel to carry items that you have purchased.
Others may see a way to ensure that someone keeps quiet and never speaks again.
No matter what you see it as chances are you do not see it as a lethal killer of millions every year; unless you are the Chinese government. In that case you probably do.
China identified plastics as one of “a deluge of soiled and contaminated materials that was overwhelming Chinese processing facilities and leaving the country with yet another environmental problem ” and we all know what immediately follows an environmental problem (Yale environment 360).
As a result of no longer wanting to be the worlds dumping ground China implemented the ” ‘National Sword’ policy, enacted in January 2018, banned the import of most plastics and other materials headed for that nation’s recycling processors, which had handled nearly half of the world’s recyclable waste for the past quarter century ” (Yale environment 360).
With this host of recycled plastic China was able to supply every Kardashian and thot west of the Mississippi river with a pair of upcycled plastic heels
However, in January 2018 China said no to recycled plastic from other nations .
As a result of this local governments and recycling processors across the U.S have been forced to find solutions to getting rid of recycled plastics. Some solutions include curtailing collections, halting recycle programs, or just burning the plastics to harness the energy.
What type of energy are they getting from burned plastic bags? I have no idea. I’m just going to sit here with my skepticism and not breathe the air.
As third parties from China can no longer take the plastics from the West a variety of other poorer Eastern nations have also agreed to take our trash.
So, the conclusion drawn by me was that this policy by the Chinese government to not take our plastic trash is nothing to freak out about…yet.
According to Global Healing Center plastic bags can lead to everything from killing the female libido (sex drive) to disfigured genitals.
I don’t know about you, but I don’t want my genitals to be disfigured.
So in an effort to maintain the appearance of my genitalia I have implemented a few minor changes to limit use of plastics.
Paper or Plastic?
Do the baggers at stores still ask what type of bag you would like? I recently discovered that even if they do not offer you the option you can still request paper bags and the store is obligated to honor your request. So do the earth a favor and get a paper bag! Or BYOB (Bring your own bag). Reducing your risk for genital mutilation is a small price to pay for eliminating that random stash of plastic bags hidden in your kitchen.
Glass water bottles
It has been drilled in our heads over and over again that we should drink 8 glasses of water a day. It also is commonly stated that you should not drink tap water (disclaimer: I do and people act like I just walked up to a baby and kicked it every time they see me fill my water bottle with tap water). As a result many have turned to plastic water bottles. You can find a plastic water bottle in more places than a plate of green eggs and ham. You can find a plastic water bottle on a train
in the rain
in the trash
and then being burned and having chemicals released into the air.
Or if the sweet smell of chemicals is not for you then you could invest in a reusable glass water bottle!
Non-plastic shoes
Shoes can be constructed from everything from candy wrappers to leather to (unfortunately) plastic.
I was surprised to learn that plastic shoes do not solely look like the ones above that they can look like mundane shoes as plastic is often incorporated into the materials used to craft shoes that one would opt to wear daily. So be sure to carefully read the materials used to make the shoe before buying.
Which one of these alternatives to plastic do you already implement or plan to implement? How do you feel about China no longer taking our plastics?
