As difficult as it is to believe, the plastics industry still hasn’t really modernized. Much of the plastic that is made today, including the plastic bags at supermarkets and the ubiquitous plastic water bottle, either end up in a landfill, or in the ocean. This is very unfortunate, as it would not be that difficult to introduce plastics that biodegrade quickly, plastics that are not a chemical danger to the environment, to living beings such as amphibians and humans. Yes, those little markings at the bottom of many plastic containers imply they are recyclable, but it really isn’t the case, as the plastic can only be reused for non-food related containers. Even used a second time for another purpose, this type of plastic will not biodegrade. They will photo-degrade for possibly 500 years or more, breaking down into individual molecules that generally are not used as food by living organisms. As for the chemicals used in the plastics, there is a growing body of evidence that some are hormone-mimicking, and are wreaking havoc on the reproductive systems of many living things, including humans. Read about San Francisco below, and more about plastics in some of the more recent blog entries below.

• Off The Bottle