Soooo Sad....

Sooooo Sad, and soooooo BAD!!! We COULD have avoided this... because weeee did it!!!

The Garbage Patch:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tnUjTHB1lvM&eurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2Finbox%2F%3Fref%3Dmb&feature=player_embedded

Check it out!

"Every Piece of plastic we've made is still on the planet, it doesn't go away!"

Heather (thanks Kelly for finding this and bringing it to our attention)

PLASTIC PLASTIC, NOT SO FANTASTIC!

We all know that plastic bags are a huuuuge part of our lives... grocery shopping, lunch bags, garbage, dying your hair, wet bathing suits, pooper scoopers, point " A" to "B" stuff, traveling, ETC.

This week, let's examine the plastic in our lives, and begin thinking of alternatives.
Next week we will be setting out on a massive makeover of our plastic bag practices.

Question, question: What do YOU use plastic bags for???? Send us your comments and let us know, and we will add them to our list! (at the bottom of this post hit comments, and fire away).

The list has begun....

• garbage bags


• lunch bags


• hair dye bags


• grocery bags


• tote bags (to separate from other items in a tote bag)


• poop bags (for our animals and diapers...)


• food storage (food from bulk bins, other)

Now, the reason that we are trying to become more aware of the places that plastic exists in our lives is because this is a completely man-made, fabricated product that almost NEVER biodegrades in the earth (IMPORTANT DETRIMENTAL NOTE: because these bags are made from petroleum or natural gas, plastic bags breakdown in 100-infinity years whereas paper bags take 1 month!!!! They never biodegrade because of their ingredients, and unless they are incinerated (which raises other environmental concerns), they will highly outlive their consumers (as read in the Wall Street Journal, 2007). These products sit in landfills for extended periods of time, and do not allow the materials in them to biodegrade into the earth either. They also litter other areas on this earth, and if we continue to use these products so irresponsibly.... well we will let you think of the consequences.

This may seem to you as just a "trend' that grocery stores and governments are trying to promote; however we believe that it must become a lasting part of all of our lives to make a conscious effort to combat the ridiculously common use of plastic bags in our communities.

Here are some earth-shattering stats (literally earth-shattering):

- In Ireland, in 2002, a highly successful bag tax reduced the consumption of plastic bags by a whopping 90%!!!!!!!! That's INCREDIBLE!!!!! We are a money driven society, but hey if it's going to make a change.
- Only about 1% of plastic bags are recycled worldwide..... that's unbelievable!!
- Approximately 500 billion bags are used EVERY YEAR AROUND THE WORLD! That's 500 000 000 000 plastic bags, UUUG!!

Conscious decisions people, beeeee conscious!

Today’s topic: BPA, what’s the deal?

We set out this week to learn about the harm of different kinds of plastics, and with all of the “hullabaloo” around BPA lately, we thought this would be a great place to start!

BPA (Bisphenol A) can mimic the body’s hormones and possibly (more possibly than ever thought before) can cause negative health effects. Concerns are that long term low dose exposure to BPA can cause chronic toxicity in humans. Chronic toxicity can lead to diseases such as cancer, liver disease, kidney failure, reproductive organ dysfunction, heart disease, diabetes, and other malignancies. Do we really wanna risk it? So this is the reason that there has been such a popular “hype” around BPA lately. BPA has been known to leach from plastic linings of canned foods and in plastics that are cleaned with detergents (so…. Putting plastics such as cottage cheese containers into the dishwasher and then reusing them as food containers will allow BPA to leach into stored foods once washed…. Simple solution: Instead of reusing them for food storage, recycle!).


Where can we find BPA?

Types 1,2,4,5,6 DO NOT USE BPA DURING PRODUCTION OR PACKAGING!
HOWEVER, TYPES 7 AND 3 CAN CONTAIN BPA. ‘
Every company that produces plastic does it their own way, so we recommend simply being cautious of how you use plastic in your lives.

Email us at fightingfootprints@gmail.com between now and Sunday February 1st to tell us how you use and recycle (or not) plastics in your life, and our most loved entry will win a green-inspired gift!

Love Heather and Chanel

The continuation of one (mugs)... beginning of another (bottles)!

BPA to the beebop! Nevermind... DON'T be beebopping to BPA or other plastic bottles this week!

This week we are setting out to discuss how we can be informed consumers when it comes to products packaged in plastic bottles.

BPA-free bottles is the new rage, and this week we are determined to find out exactly what is BPA? HDPE? PETE? And why are they harmful to us and the environment? What do those pesky codes on the bottom of plastic products actually mean? Are they meant to be understood by commoners like us? Tonnnnnes of questions, so little time!

We feel plastic has multiple negatives because of it's harm to our environment (accumulation in landfills, etc.) and because of it's impact on our bodies. This is why we are setting out to explore this topic in detail instead of blindly following the trends...

Do you make a conscious effort to avoid BPA, etc products, or plastic bottles in general? To get us started, we need to know what products you use to carry food, water, and others in... Are you on the Glass, Aluminum, Stainless train? Let us know why!

This week will hopefully be informative... please learn along with us!

Here is an earth shattering stat to get us started (literally, it may shatter the earth):

• 3% of household plastic bottles are currently recycled (that means 97% ARE NOT and are sitting in our landfills)

More to come, stay tuned!

Heather and Chanel... ggg... girls going green (or trying to at least)

Reminder...

So how's everyone doing? Remember No Plastic, No Styrofoam, No Paper... Only travel mugs and bottles (BPA free?!)... We Can do it!

Each year, more than 90% of water bottle end up as garbage... that's 9 out of 10!

30 million discarded plastic bottles each day - & more than 10 billion a year.... UNBELIEVABLE... but true, let's Fight the Footprint!

Sincerely, Heather