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cheltenham chamber of citizens




See additional suggestions and information based on the Beyond Plastics website https://www.beyondplastics.org and the book Living Without Plastic by Brigette Allen and Christine Wong.​


           


Tiny plastic particles like these—called microplastics—are added to some exfoliating skincare gels, and many other products. They are found in many foods we eat and in some beauty products. Read about microplastics online. 

by Judith Gratz, Environmental Educator

Studies are being done all over the world to find out ways in which we ingest several milligrams of microplastics daily. Many studies have been conducted, and more are being done. Some of the results are found in the journal Environmental Science and Technology, the NIH National Center for Biotechnology Information. Plastics get into our bodies from food you heat in a plastic container; drinking from plastic bottles of spring water, (which is much more than from the tap), and much more.

​ENVIRONMENTAL

INFO.

YOU CAN USE

The Great Pacific Garbage Patch

There are five massive patches of plastic in the oceans around the world. These huge concentrations of plastic debris cover large swaths of the ocean. One patch in particular, known as the “Great Pacific Garbage Patch” covers 20 million square kilometers of water. That’s bigger than the combined area of the United States’ five largest states! 

A number of stores already have alternatives to plastic bags in place. Some leave boxes at the front so shoppers have something in which to put groceries, free of charge. Some stores also have a place where people can donate reusable bags for others to take and keep. These are a source of savings for the store and the possibility of stores lowering prices. There have been worldwide reports that consumers have been able to save between $15 and $30 annually with this ban. 

Right now plastics manufacturers are planning to build 350 more plastic-producing factories. The plans are supposed to happen in areas where poor, minority people live, which is an environmental justice issue. People living near these factories have more asthma, cancer, and many other serious ailments.  

According to a study by World Wildlife Fund International people all over the world are eating the equivalent of 1 credit card’s amount of plastic per week. With limitations on plastic production we will ingest less plastic through our digestive and respiratory systems, the systems that send the plastics into our skeletal, muscular, nervous, endocrine, cardiovascular, lymphatic, urinary, and reproductive systems. 

From the most remote depths of the ocean, to the deepest section of the lung, microplastics appear to have invaded every bit of our lives, including the human gastrointestinal tract.

What? Even toothpaste?


1

Source: http://b.parsons.edu/~pany468/parsons/political_website/source2/index.html

The five major ocean-wide gyres where debris is collecting are the North Atlantic, South Atlantic, North Pacific, South Pacific, and Indian Ocean gyres

Additional Image Credit

Cheltenham Township Board of Commissioners unanimously passed an ordinance that bans the sale or distribution of single-use plastic bags at local retailers. The ban also calls for any paper bag alternatives to contain at least 40% recycled content. There will also be a $0.10 fee on non-reusable alternative bags.

The new law takes effect in January 2024, with retailers getting a 90-day period to realign their merchandise bagging practices. Retailer scofflaws are subject to a fine.

Reasons to Stop Using  Single-use Plastics

Source: https://www.freepik.com/free-photo/trashed-plastic-objects-arrangement_15175057.htm#query=plastic&position=8&from_view=keyword&track=sph">Freepik</a>

part TWO

What else you can do....


 What does 350 more plastics facilities that mean? More drilling, more air, water, and pollution. We can reduce the incentive to build these factories if we use less. Refer to the EIYCU article, Plastics Part I for how to use less.



This is the second of two articles about plastic.

Part 1 explores what plastic is, how it is made, how it contributes to climate change, other ways it is a problem and what each of us can do about plastic use.



Credit cards weigh about 5 grams, about the weight of microplastics we ingest per week.



A note about recycling plastics: JUST BECAUSE A PLASTIC ITEM HAS “CHASING ARROWS” ON IT DOES NOT MEAN IT CAN BE RECYCLED. The numbers simply tell you what kind of plastic it’s made of. The plastics industry would have us believe that there are different kinds of recycling for all plastics; When we are told that plastics are recyclable, most of the time they are being burned, releasing toxins into the air, soil, and water.

PennEnvironment, whose representatives worked with Cheltenham to write legislation, estimates that township residents use 13.7 million single-use plastic bags annually. 

Why should we make the effort? Because plastics pollute the environment at every stage of its life from extracting it from the ground (plastics are 99% oil), to transporting the oil, to making the plastic product*, to transporting it to distribution centers and stores, to use and disposal – often immediately – to landfilling or recycling.

Source: https://www.affew.org/tag/microplastics/

Source: NOAA - Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=3830157

Eating is not the only way we get plastics into our bodies: People take in more plastic by inhaling or ingesting tiny, invisible plastic fibers floating in the air around them, fibers shed by their own clothes, carpets, and upholstery.

What? Even toothpaste? Yes, some kinds. Also cardboard and paper food packaging, cigarette filters, glass jar lids, envelopes, chewing gum, teabags, sea salt, tampons, wet wipes, sunscreen, shower gel, lipstick, beer cans, tetra packs, coffee filters, pillows, colored pencils, glitter, some cleaning supplies, etc.