Mindconnection Brainpower Informational eNewsletter 2025-03-02

I remember that classic line from The Graduate, "Plastics". That was in answer to the question of what to invest in.

So here we are, decades later. Microplastics are everywhere, and this can't be good. It is probably not possible, at this point, to avoid ingesting or inhaling millions of microplastic particles every day. But there are ways to reduce that, and the reduction may be enough to avoid crossing the clinical barrier (the level at which the toxicity exceeds the body's ability to cope).

Below are some tips, but don't think you need to go nuts and implement all of them 100%. For example, I still use plastic food storage bowls but am careful not to put acidic foods into them.

Do not steep tea bags. Today, all tea bags are made with materials heavy in plastic. Dipping these bags into hot water releases a lot of plastic. The ideal solution is to use a stainless steel tea strainer with unbagged tea. What I do is put the tea into barely warmed water and then let it sit for half a day. I still like the convenience of tea bags, I have a stainless steel strainer and don't like using it.
Buy natural fabrics. While "microfiber" is very useful and has much to commend it, it's still polyester (a plastic).
Do not put plastic in the microwave.
Do not use plastic utensils. Forks, sporks, knives, etc., bits can easily break off into your food or dissolve from the surface into your food.
Do not use a paper straw. Guess what, in most cases the paper is made with plastic! A plain plastic straw is actually safer, and a stainless steel straw is better yet.
Use real plates and bowls, preferably made from glass or ceramic.
Store your foods in glass bowls. Plastic lids, which don't directly contact the amino acids in the food, are OK. You just don't want a plastic bottom.
If you open a can of food (for you or a pet), immediately transfer the contents into a glass bowl. That can is lined with, you guessed it, plastic. You don't want to be scraping that into your food and you don't want oxygen to start breaking it down into your food.
Don't eat processed food. These contain copious amounts of microplastics, even before you take them out of their container. Keep in mind also that consuming these means you'll be taking medications and getting surgeries, which means a lot more exposure to microplastics.

Plastic per se isn't bad, contrary to what the libtards say. But we simply have too much plastic being used too carelessly. So look for ways to substitute other materials, making sure to balance that idea with the limitations of real life. As an example of not balancing, I saw in a natural foods store some things traditionally sold in plastic containers were being sold in stainless steel ones. Not only does this jack the cost way up for very little actual benefit, it means you are contributing to the over-use of stainless steel. Making that steel is a high-pollution proposition. I'd rather have the plastic.

Consider plastic grocery bags versus "cloth" ones (which usually contain a lot of plastic). If you look at the amount of water it takes to make a thin plastic bag versus a "green" (plasticized cotton) bag, it's orders of magnitude less water used to make the thin plastic bag. The correct environmental choice is the plastic bag. I re-use mine as wastebasket liners, something I cannot afford to do with the "re-usable" ones. And did you know the typical "re-usable" one is a nasty petri dish after only a couple of uses? You have to wash it after each use or every other use, and that's water plus detergent you don't use with plastic bags (on top of the massive amount of water used to produce the "green" bags).

So don't panic over microplastics. Just make a conscious effort to have less plastic in your life, and you should be fine.

Mindconnection eNL, 2025-03-02

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