Navigating the Plastic Jungle – Understanding What’s What PLUS Easy Ways to Adjust Your Plastic Use

By Katrin Geist
Guest Writer for Wake Up World

Ah, the curse of plastics! They surround us on all levels, in all areas of life. They also cause major health and environmental problems. One of my earliest memories is that of Mom tightening and tying up the (plastic) diaper straps around my groin. Not nice when too tight.

Fast forward 40 years: to this day, disposable diapers – while doubtlessly a huge aid to parents everywhere – contribute a mountain of plastic waste that is not easily dealt with. And of course it’s not only diapers. This is but one example of a large problem: introducing exorbitant quantities (245+ million tons of plastic each year — Lithner 2011) of substances to our planet that it has no concept of integrating.

Nature works perfectly in all of her cycles. There is no such thing as waste. Everything is food. Not so in our world. Initiatives like “Cradle to Cradle” and “upcycling” are slowly beginning to change this, however.