Ikea wages war on plastic
CRUSADE AGAINST ECO-UNFRIENDLY BAGS CULMINATES IN OCTOBER
Mercury News
Since March 2007, "Bag the Plastic Bag" has been the rallying cry at Ikea stores nationwide. The yearlong goal throughout the furniture and accessories chain: Save trees and sequester carbon dioxide by reducing plastic bag consumption - from 70 million to 35 million - and persuading customers to fork out 59 cents for the store's new reusable bag.
It's a year later. The results are in. And they are stunning, reports Mona Astra Liss in Ikea's corporate office in Pennsylvania.
Turns out 92 percent of the store's patrons went for the blue tote or used their own. The 8 percent who preferred plastic were dinged a nickel each, resulting in $300,000 that Ikea donated to American Forests, a non-profit citizens' conservation organization (www.americanforests.org).
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Tuesday, April 29, 2008
War on Plastic: Wiltshire, UK
Town declares war on plastic bags
Exclusive By Katie Adams
THE harmful effects of plastic bags on the environment will be the hot topic of conversation in Corsham this summer.
A multi-pronged attack on plastic bags will be spearheaded by the Pound Arts Centre, which will be linking up with Corsham Town Council, local shops and Corsham School to encourage people to think seriously about recycling.
On May 3 from 11am until 3pm people are being invited to take their old carrier bags to the arts centre in Pound Pill for use in a workshop with textile artist Alison Harper.
READ MORE
Exclusive By Katie Adams
THE harmful effects of plastic bags on the environment will be the hot topic of conversation in Corsham this summer.
A multi-pronged attack on plastic bags will be spearheaded by the Pound Arts Centre, which will be linking up with Corsham Town Council, local shops and Corsham School to encourage people to think seriously about recycling.
On May 3 from 11am until 3pm people are being invited to take their old carrier bags to the arts centre in Pound Pill for use in a workshop with textile artist Alison Harper.
READ MORE
Sunday, April 27, 2008
Studies on Chemical In Plastics Questioned
Congress Examines Role Of Industry in Regulation
By Lyndsey Layton
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, April 27, 2008; A01
Despite more than 100 published studies by government scientists and university laboratories that have raised health concerns about a chemical compound that is central to the multibillion-dollar plastics industry, the Food and Drug Administration has deemed it safe largely because of two studies, both funded by an industry trade group.
The agency says it has relied on research backed by the American Plastics Council because it had input on its design, monitored its progress and reviewed the raw data.
The compound, bisphenol A (BPA), has been linked to breast and prostate cancer, behavioral disorders and reproductive health problems in laboratory animals.
As evidence mounts about the risks of using BPA in baby bottles and other products, some experts and industry critics contend that chemical manufacturers have exerted influence over federal regulators to keep a possibly unsafe product on the market.
Congressional Democrats have begun investigating any industry influence in regulating BPA.
READ MORE HERE
By Lyndsey Layton
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, April 27, 2008; A01
Despite more than 100 published studies by government scientists and university laboratories that have raised health concerns about a chemical compound that is central to the multibillion-dollar plastics industry, the Food and Drug Administration has deemed it safe largely because of two studies, both funded by an industry trade group.
The agency says it has relied on research backed by the American Plastics Council because it had input on its design, monitored its progress and reviewed the raw data.
The compound, bisphenol A (BPA), has been linked to breast and prostate cancer, behavioral disorders and reproductive health problems in laboratory animals.
As evidence mounts about the risks of using BPA in baby bottles and other products, some experts and industry critics contend that chemical manufacturers have exerted influence over federal regulators to keep a possibly unsafe product on the market.
Congressional Democrats have begun investigating any industry influence in regulating BPA.
READ MORE HERE
Saturday, April 19, 2008
Think You Can Live Without Plastic?
One writer chronicles the ubiquity of plastic products in daily life.
by Jill Neimark
Also see DISCOVER's new feature article on the investigation into the dangers of plastics.
How do I love thee, plastic? Let me count the ways. I wake up and glance at my plastic digital cable box to check the time. I go to the bathroom to use my plastic toothbrush, shaking a bit of my “nontoxic” tooth powder from a plastic bottle. I fill the plastic container of my Waterpik with mouthwash from another plastic bottle. I step into the shower—my lacy white curtain is protected by a plastic liner, and my chlorine-free shower water comes to me through a plastic-encased filter.
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by Jill Neimark
Also see DISCOVER's new feature article on the investigation into the dangers of plastics.
How do I love thee, plastic? Let me count the ways. I wake up and glance at my plastic digital cable box to check the time. I go to the bathroom to use my plastic toothbrush, shaking a bit of my “nontoxic” tooth powder from a plastic bottle. I fill the plastic container of my Waterpik with mouthwash from another plastic bottle. I step into the shower—my lacy white curtain is protected by a plastic liner, and my chlorine-free shower water comes to me through a plastic-encased filter.
READ MORE
Friday, April 18, 2008
The Dirty Truth About Plastic--excerpts
Discover Magazine
READ IT ALL HERE
04.18.2008
BPA and other plastics may be as harmful as they are plentiful.
by Jill Neimark
"The most pressing question about plastic...may be whether daily exposure alters the health and fertility of our children and perhaps even our children’s children. It turns out that the hormonelike chemicals in plastic may remodel our cells and tissue during key stages of development, both in the womb and in early childhood."
"Thus, if the worst-case scenario proves true, early exposure to plastic can reshape not just our children but their children, too."
"At the center of the Pacific Ocean in a windless, fishless oceanic desert twice the size of Texas, a swirling mass of plastic waste converges into a gyre containing an estimated six pounds of nonbiodegradable plastic for every pound of plankton. Called the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, it is an indelible mark of human domination of the planet. But plastic has also left its mark in us. Plastic’s chemical co-travelers make their way into our urine, saliva, semen, and breast milk."
"Chemicals leaching out of plastics may reshape not only your children but your children’s children.
In a recent study, Swan found that “we could predict the anogenital distance in babies just by knowing which phthalates a mother was exposed to and how much.” Those with the highest exposure to phthalates gave birth to boys with the shortest anogenital distance."
"Back in the 1940s when plastics were being developed, no one suspected that chemicals leaching out of these marvelous materials could have insidious biological effects. What industrial chemists did know was that by tinkering with a highly reactive molecule called a phenol they were able to devise countless synthetic chemicals for use in new materials."
###
"Ireland’s “plastax,” launched in 2002, has resulted in a 90 percent voluntary reduction in plastic bag use. Finally, corn-based, biodegradable plastics are beginning to surface, and though these polymers are not yet as durable as current plastics, the technology is advancing."
“We have no choice,” Soto says. “If reproduction is being affected, the survival of the species is compromised'
READ IT ALL HERE
04.18.2008
BPA and other plastics may be as harmful as they are plentiful.
by Jill Neimark
"The most pressing question about plastic...may be whether daily exposure alters the health and fertility of our children and perhaps even our children’s children. It turns out that the hormonelike chemicals in plastic may remodel our cells and tissue during key stages of development, both in the womb and in early childhood."
"Thus, if the worst-case scenario proves true, early exposure to plastic can reshape not just our children but their children, too."
"At the center of the Pacific Ocean in a windless, fishless oceanic desert twice the size of Texas, a swirling mass of plastic waste converges into a gyre containing an estimated six pounds of nonbiodegradable plastic for every pound of plankton. Called the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, it is an indelible mark of human domination of the planet. But plastic has also left its mark in us. Plastic’s chemical co-travelers make their way into our urine, saliva, semen, and breast milk."
"Chemicals leaching out of plastics may reshape not only your children but your children’s children.
In a recent study, Swan found that “we could predict the anogenital distance in babies just by knowing which phthalates a mother was exposed to and how much.” Those with the highest exposure to phthalates gave birth to boys with the shortest anogenital distance."
"Back in the 1940s when plastics were being developed, no one suspected that chemicals leaching out of these marvelous materials could have insidious biological effects. What industrial chemists did know was that by tinkering with a highly reactive molecule called a phenol they were able to devise countless synthetic chemicals for use in new materials."
###
"Ireland’s “plastax,” launched in 2002, has resulted in a 90 percent voluntary reduction in plastic bag use. Finally, corn-based, biodegradable plastics are beginning to surface, and though these polymers are not yet as durable as current plastics, the technology is advancing."
“We have no choice,” Soto says. “If reproduction is being affected, the survival of the species is compromised'
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