Our Disposable World

Can we kill our plastic habit before it kills us?

Over the past few years, I’ve been consumed with what feels like an impossible task: Ridding my life of plastics (or at least radically decreasing their use).

Reader, this is hard, if not impossible. I live in Hanoi, where the tap water isn’t always potable, which means I use filtered water that comes in giant plastic jugs (I do send these back to be re-filled which cuts down on the waste problem, but doesn’t solve the microplastics problem). The food I buy at the grocery store is wrapped in plastic. My leggings have microplastics in them. I go out of my way (and often spend more money) to avoid buying and throwing out plastics. But it takes extra effort, almost every day.

But plastic-skepticism also comes at a strange political moment. As a person who is basically MAHA-lite, I often feel politically homeless: Conservatives have taken up the mantle of “health,” and while I’m happy to see any movement to better regulate things like ultra-processed foods, ubiquitous plastics, and potentially dangerous and unnecessary food dyes, tying common-sense health policies to a movement that opposes childhood vaccines and rejects decades of life-saving scientific consensus is… very very very bad. Watching Democrats negatively polarize also effectively cedes the important stuff (cracking down on the companies that are making the public very sick by selling ultra-processed foods for cheap, requiring actually nutritious school lunches, imposing regulations to cut plastics, and so on) to the MAHA crazies and the MAGA right, who are happy to use the power of government to pull funding to the American Academy of Pediatrics while letting Big Food run amok. I want Democrats to return to their roots as a party that challenges corporate power in defense of consumer safety, and I’d like it if they put public health at the top of that list, which has to include the food we eat, the air we breathe, and the plastics that are increasingly in our blood, brains, and bones.

So I was pleased to get a copy of The Problem with Plastic in my inbox. It’s written by Bennington College professor and Beyond Plastics founder Judith Enck, who has also worked on environmental issues for the Obama administration and the New York Governor’s Office, and co-authored by environmental justice reporter Adam Mahoney. It’s a hard look at how we became so plastic-dependent so quickly, who that’s benefitting, and who is paying the price.

Judith Enck very kindly answered some of my questions about the actual risks of microplastics, how to keep MAHA from having a monopoly on American health, and why you should leave plastic water bottles on the shelf. Our conversation, which was conducted over email, is below.

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1. I was so excited to read this book, as someone who has only recently gotten on board with plastic-skepticism and has tried, and utterly failed, to cut plastics out of my life. It also seems like there’s a lot of mixed information about microplastics and their impacts on human health. So help me cut through the noise: For people who aren’t living near plastics facilities but who are, say, putting their food in Tupperware and drinking their coffee through plastic coffee lids and handing their kids plastic toys, what are the actual risks? What should we be afraid of here? And how much do we not yet know?

The hard truth is that everyone is eating, drinking, and breathing plastic every day in the form of microplastics — the smaller bits of plastic that shed off of larger, plastic products. Think of plastic like your skin. Just like your skin is constantly flaking off in tiny pieces, plastic is constantly shedding tiny bits that break off into the product. This can happen, for example, when you open a plastic clamshell container of lettuce, unwrap a slice of cheese that is encased in plastic film, turn the bottle cap on a bottle of soda or water, or, yes, open your Tupperware container of leftovers. When you eat and drink products that were packaged in plastic, you’re eating and drinking the tiny plastic particles that come with it.

Microplastics are little shards of plastic that are 5mm or less. Nano plastics are even smaller.

Knowing all that, it should surprise no one that microplastics have been found in just about every part of the human body, including the lungs, blood, testicles, placenta, brain, and breast milk. It’s even been found in the feces newborn babies. Think about that: Babies are being born pre-polluted with plastic.

The confusion around plastic’s health effects is partly because there are two conversations to have: the health risk of the plastic itself and the health risk of the chemicals found in plastic. The plastic particles themselves can irritate, inflame, and even puncture cells, but equally worrisome impacts come from the plastic’s chemical additives, which can leach out of the plastic and into the body. Over 16,000 chemicals are found in plastic. At least 4,200 of those are considered to be highly hazardous to human health and the environment, and thousands more haven’t even been tested for their safety. The chemicals known to be hazardous have been linked to cancer, nervous system damage, hormone disruption, obesity, diabetes, and fertility problems.

Plastic’s human health impacts have been steadily coming to light as researchers uncover the extent of our exposure. A study published earlier this year in The Lancet found that plastic is responsible for at least $1.5 trillion a year in health-related damages worldwide. Last year, a study found that people with plastic in their carotid arteries were nearly five times more likely to suffer a heart attack or stroke. Though there’s still much to learn, findings from the past five years are alarming enough to warrant legislative and regulatory action — something we are not going to see from Washington, so state and local governments will need to lead.

2. I am always stunned to go into the grocery store and see how much of our food supply comes wrapped in plastic. When consumers are shopping, what should we know about plastics and food?

Companies have decided to put many food and beverage products in plastic, whether the use is practical or not. I don’t know about you, but I’ve never needed my potatoes to be individually wrapped in plastic. The same goes for a bag of bananas. And even though everyone knows what pasta looks like, manufacturers added a little plastic window on the box so we can scope out our spaghetti before buying it. Not only is this plastic unnecessary; it’s also not non-recyclable and toxic.

The best thing consumers can do when shopping is buy products not packaged in plastic, when possible. The less plastic packaging, the better — for our health and for our planet.

3. In our current highly polarized political environment, do you see a risk that plastic-skepticism will become MAHA coded? How can follow-the-science liberals follow the science here, when there’s so much we still don’t know?

I think the more people who become aware of the extent of the plastic pollution problem and are motivated to do something about it, the better. This is a bipartisan issue that affects everyone’s health, planet, and future. The MAHA movement has expressed concern over certain toxic chemicals used in plastics, like phthalates, and their potential health impacts on children. This is a very valid concern that everyone should agree on. The science shows phthalates have been linked to cardiovascular disease, premature death, hormone disruption, and even lower IQ scores in children. This is one of the many reasons why our government — on the local, state, and federal level — should pass policies to reduce the production and use of plastic, as well as ban certain chemicals from being used in consumer products.

It’s critical that people get their information from sources that don’t profit off of plastic or its chemical additives. You’re right in that there’s still a lot we don’t know when it comes to plastic’s impacts on human health, but there’s a lot we do know too — and it’s not good. New, independent, peer-reviewed studies on this topic come out every couple of months — microplastics found in a new organ, or associations discovered between microplastics in the body and human health. It’s enough for me to want to limit my own exposure as much as possible and urge policymakers to do more to protect us. We have science for policymakers to take action.

4. There seems to be growing skepticism of recycling from the left — whether it even does what it promises. So: Is recycling worth it?

People should absolutely continue to recycle their paper, cardboard, aluminum, and glass. And compost your yard waste and food waste. The skepticism around plastic recycling is justified — it’s not the magic wand the plastics industry has spent decades telling us it is. Less than 6% of plastic is recycled in the United States, and that’s because plastic is just an inherently non-recyclable material.

In order to recycle plastic, all the different types — with their different combinations of chemicals, colors, and polymers — have to be separated. You can’t just throw a milk jug and a soda bottle into the same recycling batch and expect a usable product. It doesn’t work like that — they are two different types of plastic and have to be recycled separately. The countless variations of plastics, colors, and chemicals make the sorting and recycling of every plastic product financially untenable and technically unviable.

Plastics companies have known this for decades, but they have spent millions of dollars telling us not to worry about all of the single-use plastic in our kitchens. “Just toss it in the recycling bin!” This is deceptive. The deception is so serious that in September 2024, California Attorney General Rob Bonta sued the nation’s biggest plastic maker, ExxonMobil, for deceptive statements about the recycling of plastics.

We can’t recycle our way out of this mess. Companies need to stop using so much plastic in the first place — and it’s up to policymakers to hold them accountable, because companies will not change simply because it makes sense.

5. The long-time narrative about plastics and the environment has been pretty simplistic — the sea turtle with the straw up his nose, the bird tangled in the plastic six-pack rings. Your book paints a more complicated picture. How are plastics fueling climate change and extreme weather? What are the less-visible impacts on our environment?

Plastic is made from fossil fuels, so it makes sense that the plastic pollution issue goes hand in hand with climate change. Many people don’t realize the extent of plastic’s impact on our climate, and one stat in particular usually hits home for them: Plastic production generates four times more greenhouse gas emissions than aviation. Think about that for a second: Plastic is FIVE TIMES worse for climate change than air travel!

Plastic contributes to climate change at every stage of its life cycle. This starts when greenhouse gases escape during extraction and refining of fossil fuels. It continues with more emissions from the energy-intensive process used to make plastic. And then there are even more emissions when plastic is transported, laying in landfills, or incinerated.

As we’ve seen in Los Angeles and other places, wildfires are becoming much more common as previously less dense areas get developed and hot temperatures and drought conditions fueled by climate change get worse. A May 2023 peer-reviewed study found that nearly 40% of the burned forest area in Western Canada and the United States can be attributed to 88 major fossil fuel producers and cement manufacturers, including ExxonMobil, BP, Chevron, and Shell — some of the primary corporations behind plastic production. Essentially, the extraction and burning of fossil fuels — which are the foundation of plastic — have raised global temperatures and amplified dry conditions across the West, thereby increasing the amount of land burned by wildfire.

The climate crisis and the plastics crisis are one in the same.

6. One of the simplest changes you encourage readers to take on is getting rid of plastic water bottles. Why? What makes single-use plastic bottles so awful?

I strongly encourage people to use reusable cups and bottles whenever possible. Unless clean water is inaccessible, there are few reasons to use single-use plastic water bottles. You’re paying for plastic — not the water you can get for free — and that plastic is used for just a moment before polluting the planet for centuries to come.

On top of the environmental toll, an alarming amount of microplastics have been found in bottled water. A 2024 study found that bottled water can contain 10 to 100 times more plastic particles than previous estimates. One liter of water — the equivalent of two standard-size bottled waters — contained an average of 240,000 plastic particles from seven types of plastics!

7. I appreciate how you focus the book on the fact that we need political change, not just individual — forgoing plastic water bottles is not going to solve this problem. If you had a policy wishlist, what would be on it?

Unfortunately, companies have added plastic to so many products that it’s impossible for consumers to avoid it, and thus it’s impossible for individuals to avoid exposure. That’s why it’s on policymakers on all levels of government to pass policies limiting the production and use of plastic, as well as incentivizing reusable and refillable alternatives. Plastic pollution is a problem created by companies, and it’s up to policymakers to hold them accountable and curb their reliance on plastic.

For individuals wanting to do something to effect change, listen up: Don’t underestimate the power of your voice. Whether you’re writing a letter to the editor urging your elected officials to pass a plastic bag ban in your county or participating in a rally to pass a state bill reducing unnecessary packaging, your voice makes a difference. Speak up. Get involved.

If I had a policy wishlist — and who’s to say I don’t — it would be for the New York state legislature to pass the Packaging Reduction and Recycling Infrastructure Act when legislators reconvene in January. When passed, this bill will reduce packaging across New York state by 30%, require the remaining packaging to be reusable or truly recyclable, require companies to pay modest fees on packaging, and require companies creating the waste to foot the bill for managing it. This is the kind of comprehensive policy we need on all levels of government to effectively rein in the plastic pollution problem. New York has an opportunity to lead the country and set a blueprint for other states. We’ll be joining countless New Yorkers next year in urging New York state legislators to pass the Packaging Reduction and Recycling Infrastructure Act, and for Governor Kathy Hochul to sign the bill into law. I hope this is the year they’ll put people over plastic.

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Thanks for reading. And here’s to all of us resolving to use fewer plastics in the new year.

xx Jill