Should I throw away everything I own that is plastic?

There's so many micro plastics in the environment already from tire and brake dust, that I don't know if it would even make a large impact. I replaced plastic drinking vessels (cups, water bottles) that get frequent use, but otherwise I just try to buy non-plastic things as I replace old ones. For example, I'm pretty picky with only buying clothes from natural fibers whenever possible.

We lost the fight on microplastics, it's in the rain, its in the Marianas trench. It will last for thousands of years even if we stopped right now using plastic.

As much as this can be some kind of upside... it seems like they aren't very bioreactive. This would be something to be studied over decades but there's no control population (everyone including uncontacted tribes is exposed to microplastics) - as far as we know the health effects are relatively limited. Which makes kind of sense, that's one of the reasons we use plastics in medicine and stuff.

They've been associated with increasing rates of cancer, fertility issues, possibly a handful of other things but there are so many confounding variables it's hard to say if it's actually down to microplastics or not. Certainly not great.

I'd say don't throw out everything plastic. If it's getting to you maybe change up high impact stuff. Toothbrush. Clothes possibly. Tupperware storage, water bottles, etc. Maybe consider switching shampoo/conditioner to something more natural.

But there isn't really any escaping it, it's in our food, it's in our air, it's in our water. I wish I could leave you with something positive... but the struggle against microplastics is gonna be a very long term struggle at this point.

Do you live somewhere with access to a basement? Check for radon.

Do you use non-stick cookware? If it's Teflon, toss it.

Walking outside in the sun? Wear sunblock.

Stressed out? Try meditation.

I don't doubt the veracity of the video, but there are levels to this, and there are far bigger toxins in your life that you should deal with before worrying about plastics.

Plastic is the little-death that brings total obliteration. I will face my microplastics. I will permit them to pass over me and through me. And when they are gone past I will turn the inner eye to see their path. Where the microplastic has gone there will be nothing. Only I will remain.

Synthetic fibers and car tires are the biggest source of microplastics. So other than wearing a mask near roads and not heating up plastics, you could start switching to natural fibers. Personally I can't be bothered.

You'd have to throw yourself out because it's already too late. The plastic has already assimilated you in the microplastic collective.

You can rid yourself of plastic in the same way that people of the 1960s could rid themselves of lead, that is, not at all. This is something that will only be solved collectively, and worrying about it at an individual level won't help.

Unless you're rich most of you clothes have plastic in them. Shoes too.

Furniture most likely has polyurethane top coat if it's actual wood or if it's ikea furniture the particle board uses petroleum products as glue and the surface is vinyl.

Curtains and carpets unless you're a rich asshole.

All home appliances including fridges and air conditioners.

Some of the pipes in your house Home insulation/vapor barrier. Exterior vinyl siding. Any plywood or particle board sheathing (most of your house if you live in burgerland). Insulation in your wires.

Cars, Bikes, Scooters all have rubber tires and plastic parts. Break line tubing on bikes.

Aluminum cans and paper bags usually have a plastic liner too. Glass bottles have plastic in the cap for seal. Basically impossible to buy any food that isn't in a plastic lined package. Even bulk stores get their stock in containers with plastic. All medicine comes in plastic containers too.

Anything machined out of metal likely has a little residual from the petroleum product lubricant used to machine it .

Only materials that would be safe (if it doesn't come in plastic packaging) would be non machined metal, ceramics, glass, untreated lumber, 100% natural fiber cloth. IDEK if you can even buy natural rubber anywhere.

But then again the factory that made it probably involved plastic parts of machines touching the product

Your only options is live in the woods krazcinski style but I'm sure even the fertilizer he bought to make his bombs had plastic in its packaging in addition to being a petroleum product.

Nowadays it'd also be impossible to find a tent that doesn't have some polyester so if you are going in the woods watch some Primitive Techology videos and build your own shelter.

There's reasonable concerns about plastic coming into contact with food. Swapping to glass, stainless steel, and ceramic is a good idea, especially if it's going in the microwave.

You can get vitrelle glass servingware from IKEA that is microwave-safe, cheap, lightweight, and durable. Because it's thin it's easy enough to have an excess of larger bowls and plates that you can use to store food in the fridge with (invert the plate over the bowl instead of using cling wrap). Don't throw away all your plasticware and replace it with silicone alternatives because that's not really the solution that marketing firms would have you believe.

Honestly aside from the microplastics that you are exposed to from roads due to tires, especially the busier roads, I'd venture a guess that synthetic fabrics are probably your next big personal source of microplastics that you would be able to do something about. My unscientific hunch is that synthetic materials create a cloud of microplastics wherever they are, especially if they are fluffy. If this is a concern for you then I'd start buying natural fabrics and phasing out the synthetic fabrics where possible over time.

I'd also limit the use of melamine cleaning sponges to where it's an absolute necessity.

Something tells me that the microplastics that we are exposed to via stuff like rain and drinking from single-use plastic bottles is going to pale in comparison to other sources but idk for sure and it's early days so time will tell.

As for recyclable plastic? Lol what a mess. So much of plastic that goes into the recycling bin ends up in landfill and what doesn't get diverted ends up in storehouses and on barges and being burned with some miniscule percentage actually being recycled.

I'm not sure what the right answer is for plastic recycling. I wouldn't get too invested in it honestly. I'd say that in principle it's better to put pressure on governments and corporations by utilising recycling programs that are available. Right now it's not going to do much good but governments and corporations would much prefer that everyone was apathetic about plastic waste and simply ignored the problem so it's better not to let this be the case. Those supply chains in the "recycling" system are valuable and they will be necessary when governments finally get serious about managing plastic waste. It takes a lot of effort to shift the habits of the masses and it takes time to establish supply chains, so it's better to maintain the habit and to encourage others to do so plus it's important to keep those supply chains ticking over for if/when we have a breakthrough or a government gets serious. Just don't put much emphasis on it right now on a personal level - you aren't going to save the planet by fastidiously cleaning that gross plastic container which has been sitting in the corner of your fridge for months. You can just throw it away, it really doesn't matter that much (at least under the present state of affairs).

Limit the scope of the problem to what's immediately manageable and most relevant. What specific things do you think are likely to be causing you problems? Clothes, bottles, plastic plates, etc? Anything that you want to be food safe is probably worth replacing. Furniture and anything inert in your living spaces should be evaluated in a case by case basis.

Anything plastic that touches your food, you should certainly replace with glass. If it's like, your TV remote or something, it's no big deal.

i think some long lasting plastics are useful. like, i don't seek out ways to use plastic instead of 'x' and generally i want the wood handle instead of the plastic one [or the metal, natural fiber, etc], but plastics and polymers are in so much and a lot of natural/organic materials have coatings and protective layers which are plastic based. and detergents and shit like fabric softener, god its crazy. but polyurethanes absolutely make a wood surface last far longer making it more resistant to wear and tear, and can give it desirable properties for certain use cases (non porous / sanitization etc).

the health aspect, in my opinion, is mostly the microplastics angle. and the environmental piece is avoiding single use plastics. single use plastics are the big disaster, not the 9 year old nalgene or the 6 year old tumbler or the $2 shades you got last year. not buying new shit until the old shit is not functional, usable or reparable is generally the move. stretching the life cycle another year or two always pencils out better than buying the latest new and improved greenwashed thing today.

the plastic problem is where all this crap goes (and how it doesn't so much stay there as it does find its way back into us), so use the hell out of it while considering what form its ideal replacement will take. if you have a bunch of personal energy and the material security to try and unwind a problem, figure out how to routinely provision food and clothing for yourself without single use plastics for packaging/tags etc. as far as i can tell, decreasing that consumptive use of plastics by like 50% will turn you into the crunchiest and most granola freak at most any farmers market (logistic difficulty: severe) and cut way the hell back on the volume of plastics moving through your household. and probably through your body. plastic packaging is the cutting edge for material sciences because they are always trying to find ways to make durable packaging out of less physical material. that is the recipe for long lasting, but totally unrecyclable trash and novel xenobiotics.

While I understand the urge, no you shouldn't throw out literally everything you have that is plastic. If you want to do it, I would do specific case by case research to back it up and not toss it unless you can find concrete info (not some naturopath website or blog), suggesting it is harmful and confirming there's a valid alternative you can afford to switch to. Even if you have tons of plastic everything it's almost certainly not like, urgent to eliminate, even in the cases where it is a genuine problem.

I don’t really care cuz despite the lead paint, diesel fumes, and lead pipes. My grandparents from both sides are in their 80s. And the only one who has crippling health issues is the one who drank every day from 8 to 70

sounds like a dumb idea to me tbh

you should check out the podcast "pick me up i'm scared"

they are some kind of communists and they did episodes on microplastics talking about all the unfun details of how people are ingesting microplastics, tires, fruits, vegetables, air
it's in everything

they use microplastics in fertilizer to slowly release the nutrients so iirc that is how it gets in your vegetables

but they talk about how to minimize your personal consumption of microplastics can't remember but check it out

Mircoplastics are stored in the balls