Why I Love My Co-op Carafe: Update on Single-Use Plastic in New York
By Ruth Ann Smalley
I’ll confess, my hydration habits are terrible if I don’t approach them with intention. That’s why I rely on my Klean Kanteen when I’m out and about. At home, I fill and refill a glass carafe that I purchased at Honest Weight years ago. Sure, a quart mason jar would work just as well to remind me to drink water. But pretending I’m at a fancy restaurant, decanting my drink from a carafe, adds a little humor to my routine.
Unfortunately, there’s nothing humorous about plastic water bottles. Bottled water is so pervasive in the culture that it seems to require actual forethought to avoid it and establish alternatives. Although we’ve known for years that there’s a high environmental cost, the habit dies hard for many people. More recently, the evidence of impact on our bodies is piling up. While plastic bombards us from multiple sources, single-use plastic bottles are a huge contributor to the burden of harmful micro and nano plastics in humans.
As researcher Sarah Sajedi notes, “people swallow between 39,000 and 52,000 microplastic particles every year. Bottled water drinkers add roughly 90,000 more.“ The actual amount we may be ingesting is hard to estimate; some studies suggest these numbers are an undercount. The upshot according to Sajedi: “Drinking water from plastic bottles is fine in an emergency but it is not something that should be used in daily life. People need to understand that the issue is not acute toxicity – it is chronic toxicity.”
At the very least, these particles may induce inflammatory responses. But the damage probably doesn’t stop there, given that plastic can be made up of 16,000+ understudied, unregulated chemicals. In fact, Sajedi’s review “highlights the chronic health issues linked to exposure to nano- and microplastics, including respiratory diseases, reproductive issues, neurotoxicity, and carcinogenicity” (study abstract here).
Reliance on all drinks in plastic bottles is a habit worth kicking. You definitely don’t want to drink out of one that has been sitting in a hot car. It is also hard to know how much heat your plastic drink bottle may have been exposed to on its journey from manufacturer to warehouse, to point of purchase. And while you may be tempted to “redeem” a plastic bottle (or food bag) somewhat by reusing it, this is not advisable. Plastic containers simply deteriorate further the more you use them.
Individually, we can work on making different choices, but this is a systemic problem. We need legislation that will require producers to clean up their products and discontinue the use of the known hazardous ingredients. New York state legislators have proposed just such a bill. On September 14, I went down to the Capitol to join a rally for the passage of PRRIA (Assembly bill 1749).
According to BeyondPlastic.org:
“The Packaging Reduction and Recycling Infrastructure Act (S1464 Harckham/A1749 Glick) will transform the way our goods are packaged. It will dramatically reduce waste and ease the burden on taxpayers by making companies, not taxpayers and consumers, cover the cost of managing packaging. The bill will:
Reduce plastic packaging by 30% incrementally over 12 years;
By 2052, all packaging — including plastic, glass, cardboard, paper, and metal — must meet a recycling rate of 75% (with incremental benchmarks until then);
Prohibit 17 of packaging’s worst toxic chemicals and materials, including all PFAS chemicals, polyvinyl chloride (PVC), lead, and mercury;
Prohibit the harmful process known as chemical recycling to be considered real recycling;
Establish a modest fee on packaging paid by product producers, with new revenue going to local taxpayers; and
Establish a new Office of Recycling Inspector General to ensure that companies fully comply with the new law.”
This bill would have truly significant effects and set a great precedent for other states. Unfortunately, over the past two years, it has passed the State Senate, but hasn’t been brought to the Assembly for a vote. We need to let our representatives know that we support this measure, and remind them that they are in office to serve and protect us, rather than catering to powerful commercial lobbies.
You can learn more about the backstory on this bill, and find ways to get involved here.
You can still make your views known to Carl Heastie, by emailing speaker@nyassembly.gov.
View all the Coop Scoop Blog posts here.