Life Without Plastic Blog

India rising... above plastic!

We are just back from a trip to "Incredible !ndia" -- this is the tag line used by the Indian Ministry of Tourism to promote India around the world, and it's true, India is !ncredible.  One might argue that I'm biased because I have Indian roots, but this is a country that grabs everyone by all senses and flys away with you. It is so alive, just teeming with life.  And the colours - I love the flowers sold in the street, and the numerous fresh vegetable stands.

We were there to visit family and meet with some of our suppliers.  We visited Mumbai, Kolkata and Delhi.  Doing what we do, Chantal and I were always on the lookout for signs and info about the current state of the plastic pollution in India, and what is being done about it.  With a population exceeding a billion, over 30% of which live below the poverty level, dealing with plastic waste is a challenge by any measure.  And yet, we found many signs of positive action. 

Certainly with so many people and so much waste, plastic is a problem, and it is visible wherever one finds garbage. We even saw truckloads of plastic bottles and bags being transported to the mythical "away", likely a landfill. 

Apart from increasing overall waste, plastic bags clog drains and increase flooding - the increased flooding creates breeding grounds for malaria and dengue fever.  Bags can be a problem in the countryside where vegetables are grown as they break down into increasingly smaller pieces while leaching chemicals into the soil.  Bags and other plastic garbage are also eaten by animals, such as cows and dogs, and killing them by clogging their intestines.

Awareness of the problem is growing, and both governments and citizens have taken action over the past decade. Bans on plastic bags have been put in place in numerous municipalites including Mumbai and Delhi and Kolkata.  While implementation is an enormous challenge, the bans must be having an effect because compared to our last visit to India ten years ago, the difference is visible.  There are clearly fewer plastic bags around, in the stores and on the streets, and many people seem to carry their own reusable bags for shopping (of course, this is a practice that has always been more prevalent in Asia than in the West). 

In Mumbai, we came across a plastic bench with the following printed on a small white label attached to it, "Made from Plastic Waste-Recycled".  On the grounds of Victoria Memorial in Kolkata we noticed a sign in English, Hindi and Bengali reading, "Avoid Plastic Bags Please. It Is Injurious To Health." 

In talking to people - from shopkeepers to executives - it becomes clear that the issue of plastic pollution is one they are aware of and they understand why it is a serious issue.  This awareness and willingness to act to decrease plastic use and waste is slowly permeating daily Indian life.

This is one of the things I love about India.  As the largest democracy in the world, it is a crazily diverse country and I sometimes marvel that it even works. Yet, with such a varied, colourful and tumultuous history and existence, Indians are accustomed to embracing change and going with the flow. A change may happen overnight or become mired in the famous Indian beaurocracy and stagnate for years, but if it makes sense, the Indian people will accept it and make it a part of their lives quickly.

So as India slowly rises above plastic - and there is lots of rising yet to do because plastic pollution is still a huge problem in India, as in so many other parts of the world - we could all learn from this willingness to accept change.

Jay Sinha, Co-Owner
LifeWithoutPlastic.com

All photos by Jay.

Walk the Talk with Beth: Kick the Habit and LIVE Plastic Free

Beth Terry writes the pre-eminent blog in this world on living without plastic: My Plastic-free Life. She meticulously tracks her monthly plastic consumption down to the last plastic envelope window, and blogs passionately about it. That alone is reason enough for us to love her and consider her one of our heros, but there is more. Why do we love Beth?  She's funny, straightforward, unafraid to tell it like it is, a superb researcher and writer, an idea factory, super well-organized and systematic, action-oriented, great at making fun of herself to make a point, and, as you can tell by now...she walks her talk. I had the pleasure of meeting and getting to know her in person a few years ago, and at the time I blogged about the blast we had together at the Green Festival in San Francisco.

Now, everyone can walk Beth's talk and change their lives and the world at the same time by living with less plastic. Her book, Plastic-Free: How I Kicked the Plastic Habit and How You Can Too, was just launched worldwide a few days ago, and it is well worth checking out. You can purchase it here.

Finally, a how-to guide for living without plastic. If you've ever wondered what in the world to do to replace the plastic in your life, this is the perfect place to start. Plastic water bottles drive you nuts, but you're addicted to them: learn about the damage you're causing and the options out there (Chapter 3). You love cheese, but hate buying it in the plastic wrapping: page 195 (buy it in bulk). You prefer liquid soap but it always seems to come in plastic bottles: page 220 (recipe to make your own). There's so much plastic in your kitchen, where do you start?: pages 267-276 (set your priorities by first asking some key questions). There is lots of background detail in this book, plus resources and suggestions, so you will not only change your habits and your life for the better, you will educate yourself deeply about the power of plastic to control us, whether we realize it or not.

Chantal and I were thrilled to be interviewed by Beth about Life Without Plastic and be included as one of the many 'Plastic-Free Heros' she features throughout the book. You can read a bit about our story on pages 142-143...  

One of the neat things about this book is that it quite literally is plastic-free. This is no small feat in a publishing world where the norm is a plastic coated cover and jacket, polyester or nylon thread in the binding, and plastic glue throughout the binding. In this case, the jacket is uncoated (a simple and even elegant kraft paper jacket), the thread is made of cotton, the spine is exposed, and a plastic-free glue was used for the binding. 

On a final note, Beth is a true testament to how the actions of one single person can have an enormous effect on the whole world. She is creating waves with her blog that documents her life without plastic, and now this handy how-to guide is taking the world by storm as people open their eyes to the plastic problem, and realize there are alternatives.

So now it's your turn. You too can make waves in your life and the lives of others.  All it takes is one simple action to get started. If you're not sure where to start, read this book and/or check out Beth's blog. Oodles of possibilities...

Jay Sinha, Co-Owner
LifeWithoutPlastic.com

Plastics and Breast Cancer

Plastics can cause or contribute to breast cancer. Our dear friend Janet has breast cancer and we can't help but wonder if some plastic chemicals have played a role in the development of her disease. When she was first diagnosed, she had stage 3 breast cancer in 2005 and was still breastfeeding her 6 month old son.  Stage 3 means that although her cancer had not spread to other organs, some cancerous cells had been found in her lymph nodes.  She immediately had her right breast surgically removed and started chemotherapy. Two years later, her cancer progressed to stage 4 when metastases were found in her lungs. After treatment her cancer went into short remission and then last summer, a tumour was found in her brain. As she puts it, she "tripled" her prognosis and one year later leads a very full and active life. She continues to be very involved on the advocacy front, trying to help traditional medicine embrace a more holistic approach toward cancer.

Chantal and Janet the day after her wedding in December 2007

We are writing all this to bring attention to the fact that plastics - for example, bisphenol A (BPA) - have been associated with breast cancer. More research needs to be done on the links between chemicals found in products available at your local grocery store, but some university programs, such as Cornell University program on the Cancer Risks of Environmental Chemicals in the Home and Workplace which ended on March 31, 2010, are closing apparently because of a lack of funding. Increased awareness of the issue, means increased funding.

Please take a look at the video posted on http://envirocancer.cornell.edu/research/endocrine/videos/plastics.cfm and consider offering a donation to one of the two following charities that were suggested to us by Janet:

IN CANADA: http://rethinkbreastcancer.com/

IN USA: http://nosurrenderbreastcancerhelp.org/index.html

Chantal Plamondon & Jay Sinha, Owners
LifeWithoutPlastic.com