Tuesday, 10 August 2010
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Plastic Vs. Your Health
My friend Andrew sent me this video! It's of a documentary film on plastic and its effect on the environment and our bodies.
Bag It Intro from Suzan Beraza on Vimeo.
http://vimeo.com/5645718I've talked about plastic water bottles before and how the BPA chemical in plastic can leech into your water. BPA has been found to be linked to diabetes, obesity, and infertility; however, most of these recent studies are correlational - aka they have not found that BPA directly causes these diseases, but have just found an association or potential link.
The website for the "Bag It" movie also has a list of ways you can do your part to help the environment. They recommended to "give up bottled water." If BPA does not concern you, then at least realize the amount of energy required to make and ship plastic water bottles. A stainless steel water bottle is better for your health and the environment anyway! Having a nice water bottle can also encourage you to drink more water. You'll have beautiful skin and be less likely to overeat!
"Cut out sodas, juices, and all other plastic-bottled beverages." This is a great tip because water is the healthiest drink for you. By cutting out sodas and juices, you can actually save a lot of calories and lose weight without even trying! Fresh fruit is much healthier than juices because of the extra fiber.
"Make your own yogurt, with or without a yogurt maker." This doesn't really look as easy or convenient as the website says this is. They provided a website on how to make your own yogurt, but one of the ingredients is plain yogurt. Don't you have to buy plain yogurt in a plastic container anyway?
"Give up frozen convenience foods." Although I really enjoy the convenience and easy portion-sizing of Lean Cuisine, I also enjoy cooking as well. There is something calming and wholesome about it! It can be a social thing too. I have been staying at my friend's house for the last two weeks and I have been enjoying showing her how to make Chinese stir-fries. You don't need to be an expert culinary chef. Overall, home cooking has less calories and sodium than restaurant foods. Many people like the fact that they also know exactly what is going in their meal!
I love to cook while enjoying music at the same time. So I will leave you with a short French music playlist that I discovered while I was in Quebec. Pump some music and have fun in the kitchen! And definitely check out the "Bag It" film website HERE for more tips to help out the environment!
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Comments (18)
j'adore coeur de pirate
@JoeytheGenie - me too!! she's definitely my fave!!
Some very sound pieces of advice! I have my own water bottle (which is made of metal) as does everyone in my household. We've stopped buying water bottles all together. We have a Brita Water Filter as well because...well, our water tastes funny unless we use it. :x
I've never made homemade yogurt before! The idea had never crossed my mind until I read this. It sounds like a great idea, so I'm going to have to look up some recipes.
Thanks for this!
@Pandiie_Bear - No probs! I love Brita filters! I can't remember, but I think read somewhere that they use BPA-free plastic. Awesomeness
@theHealthRabbit - I do too! The reason we went on a water bottle-buying-frenzy in the first place was for cleaner water than our tap. We went through them so fast (because water is basically all me and my step sister drink) that it started getting ridiculous and sad environment-wise. I didn't even know about THIS stuff. Phew. Good choice going Brita, I guess!
i'm a water fanatic and i'm so glad i switched over to stainless steel bottles early on. it's true about how a nice water bottle can encourage one to drink more water- i have this super cute one that says "I <3 water" on it and i love chugging on it haha :D
@ailili - That's so cute! Does it happen to be a Lululemon water bottle? Because I know they have "I <3 Running" and "I <3 Yoga" water bottles too!
I'm gonna get a water filter for the tap & a stainless steel bottle. I'm not saying what's said isnt true nor am I pro-plastic (ask my mom, I nag her alot over bags. XD) but if it was THAT bad, they would ban plastic. And what's NOT going to cause something & kill us these days? Plus people arent looking at what some companies are doing. They're using less plastics in bags, bottles & other products & are encouraging reusable or paper bags.
We need to find containers too that help to store food without toxic side effects.
I have that type of water bottle! I'm set.
I agree and support to use less plastic in our daily life. The downside of using a stainless steel water bottle would be that it's heavier than a plastic bottle. Thus making it less appeal to be used, since it means with it being full of water, it's going to make the bag even more heavy when you're walking around with it in HK.
i use a plastic water bottle.
and what about tupperware for storing left overs? do you use them or something else (then again, we use margarine buckets)
@yelly - Not all plastic tupperwares are safe. You can check on the bottom of plastic items for a special number indicating what type of plastic it is. #3, #6, and sometimes #7 are not good plastics to use. I've heard it's not good to microwave plastics. The best bet is to go with glass tupperware containers! It seems like your making use of the "reduce" in the 3 R's haha. My family uses those margarine & tofu buckets for other things like putting soap in it for cleaning or for organizing things.
@theHealthRabbit - glasswares? no thank you. they break too easily. even my bowl is plastic
what do you use then
hihi,我系lily aldia呀
開心識到你
my msn:aldialily@live.hk
Currently I use a plastic box to hold my sandwiches. I just tell myself it's better than using saran wrap or ziploc bag. =P
As for beverage, I've turned to glass bottles when buying milk.
The yogurt container thing is definitely hard to get around... maybe buy them less frequently. If buying, get the bigger sizes (as they use less material when compared to 2 smaller tubs) and find other uses with the material before they really have to go to the recycling bin.
Our society is getting somewhere with the environmental movement. But just like food knowledge, there's too much information (sometimes with misleading stuff) out there. Consuming less of everything seems to be a pretty good approach that works for me.
Rec'd.
@y_tc - yea, i remember those 7-11s are so convenient in HK! absolutely everywhere! I remember I still carried around my own water bottle to school in HK though. I think I wore a backpack on most days. Just drink it faster lol! to get rid of the heaviness.
@theHealthRabbit - As it's summer time in HK, I do carry 2 water bottles on my backpack (since 7-11 sells a lot of drinks that are high in sugar). Plus I think plastic water bottle are more popular than aluminum water bottles in HK, but given what you said, I would try an aluminum water bottles when I have one.
P.S. Drinking it faster would means need to go to toilet more often, and sometimes, depends on where you are, it's not easy to find a toilet near you.