To feel frightened/powerless in face of plastics

[CreamLampshade]

Even if I tried, I cannot avoid micro plastics - they are in our water and our food. And the evidence is mounting that they are fucking us up in so many ways.

the latest studies show they are probably behind the massive decline in male fertility: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/article/2024/may/20/microplastics-human-testicles-study-sperm-counts

(I have suspected this for years as they are endocrine disrupters).

what can we do? It’s bloody everywhere and so hard to avoid without a lot of effort. Does anyone manage it? Is anyone else nervous too?

i worry for our children and all the crap that is accumulating in their bodies.

Because people can’t bear to accept just how badly we have fucked up the only planet we can survive on. I’m with you OP. And micro plastics are just one part of the absolute catastrophe we have brought upon our stupid selves.

It's frightening when you think how rapid the change has been. Go back 50 years (I'm a child of the 70s) and while plastic was obviously in use, it was minor compared to today.
Our milk was delivered in glass bottles to the doorstep. When we were allowed a (rare) bottle of 'pop' it would be in a glass bottle with a return amount printed on the bottle top to encourage you to return it... so many minor examples but significant on a national scale.

Go back 100 years and it's the emergence of plastic - Bakelite at the turn of the last century... only used for things like radio and telephone cases.

Go back 200 years and we are almost in pre-industrial times, no plastic, no mechanisation etc.

In just 200 years we have royally f*cked our planet. Capitalism and greed! 'Progress' comes at too high a price. Why couldn't we just use plastic for the things that really mattered - for medical advances, where the need outweighs the price. To progress now we need to go drastically backwards!

I agree OP, it’s really scary. I was diagnosed with stage 4 bowel cancer a few years ago in my early 40’s. There has been an explosion in the number of young people developing cancer over the last few decades. On an individual level a lot of the young people I’ve met through cancer support groups are very healthy, myself included. It makes me wonder what environmental issues could be driving the rise in diagnoses including pollution, upf’s, micro plastics, hormones in the water.

Stop using anything made from plastic.

Which includes any device capable of posting on mumsnet.

If this planet survives this time will be looked at as one of the most toxic times.
Not just micro plastics. I am surrounded in a beautiful countryside by users of roundup on industrial levels.
Heavy metals in food and water.
Nickel! The UK plates it's coins in Nickel. Stainless steel is nearly always nickel plated to give it shine and protect it. So most people put nickel in their mouths, Cook with pans that contain nickel. The element or similar in electric kettles are nickel. So we heat our water in it. Also tinned food as well.
An estimated 17% of women are allergic to nickel. It's much less in men for some reason.
In Sweden they stopped using nickel to plate their coins in 2016 citing both health and environmental reasons.

I think the plastic manufacturers must be voting 😆

Individuals are led, we don't really have the control we think.

Much recycle ends up being burnt and shipped overseas, where it often ends up in the ocean, we have little control over this.

We cannot stop what Supermarkets pack products in, we ve little choice over what cars we can buy, pretty much forced to buy an EV now, hardly the environmentally friendly option & with a terrible life span - Your new company car Chinese MG EV wont being going strong in 10 years, it'll be scrap.

Only Governments can stop/limit all of this but they wont, just look at how Labour had to reverse its Green policies under pressure from the right wing media and the Govt?

Profit at any cost is the name of the game.

Lack of being able to conceive led me to make some lifestyle changes like switching to glass Tupperware, drinking mainly through a (decent) water filter bottle and I have gone on to buy glass baby bottles and latex teats for the same reason. None of us can get rid of microplastics now- it’s been found in breast milk, even! But we can do little bits- how much difference it’ll make, who knows but it’s certainly not going to harm!

We’re also doing cloth nappies too.

The voting on here is indicative of our attitude to the environment & to our own survival.

I'm always reminded of the the Film "The Day the Earth stood still" we know whats happening, we can sense it but are powerless to prevent it, even at the cost of our own destruction.

For once, this isn’t on the water companies. Sewage leaks, yes, micro-plastics no, that’s down to every single one of us who puts artificial fabrics into washing machines.

I worked (copyeditor) on a huge academic book about this issue a few years back. It really is overwhelming.

There is stuff you wouldn’t necessarily think about. Like, one that stuck with me was about using a strimmer to cut the grass. Basically it just showers the whole area with microplastics. 😞

I looked into buying non-plastic toothbrushes for the dc but ultimately went back to their electric ones on dentist’s advice.

The way it can “pollute” every waking thought with uncertainty and worry mirrors the way it pollutes the planet.

We're overseas at the moment and the plastic usage in our hotel is off the charts.
Plastic bottles of water in our rooms, our bathrobes wrapped in a plastic cover to evidence that they're clean, cups in our bathroom in plastic covers, little snacks in the reception area in individual plastic tubs with plastic lids, plastic stirrers and cutlery used for breakfast, plastic cups for all drinks and then wet wipes individually wrapped in plastic handed out.
And then we leave the hotel and its more of the same.
It cements what I already knew. We're all fucked and it's too late to turn it around now.

They could invest in better water filtration systems to rid our water of pharmaceutics and plastics - the tech exists, it’s just expensive. Companies will soon start to be charged for polluting water so that water companies can invest in this tech but solutions are still years away and in the meantime our oceans and bodies are fucked.

Yea this. A friend also got stage 4 bowel cancer at the age of 25 and led a healthy diet, was veggie etc. There must be a reason behind the explosion - apparently it is down to ultra processed foods, and emerging links with plastics fucking up our hormones and bowels I’m sure.

Can I ask what water bottle you use? Yes plastics have been found to affect your chances to conceive havent they?

How does it do that?

So frustrating seeing stuff like that. I know it’s a small action but speaking with the hotel management and saying they should change their policies might be a good step. They’ll only do if we ask u fortunately.

Yes it is terrifying. And more terrifying that there's nothing we can do.

Growing up I refused foods/drinks that were stored in reusable plastic - I can taste the plastic. When I got older it made me think - if I can taste it I must be consuming some of it and that's awful. But now - it's just everywhere. We've gone too far to ever come back. And no one cares enough on a big enough scale to try.

Same with hormones. We aren't far off killing off water creatures because we are pumping such high levels of hormones into the water. No one cares enough on a big enough scale to stop.

Like everyone else says - we are just slowly killing everything off.

Suggest on MN that people should potty train kids earlier to reduce nappy waste though, and there's a riot.

Agreed with all the "plastic" clothing too. Wool, cotton, linen are better, yes, they have their own polluting issues, but at least they are sustainable and don't hang around for a thousand years.

Maybe read some of the research around things like microplastics, airpollution etc and the link to increased cases of many different illnesses, disease and disorders. You might learn something and it will save you looking daft.
Plenty of conditions existed before plastics. The point is that these plastics may be having an impact that increases the likelihood.

Here’s a link that says more about the strimmer thing

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0304389421027576

I just can't be bothered im afraid. We're in a SE Asian country and we're the only Brits in this hotel. The Americans, Australians and Asians are, I'm sure, not bothered as many of their countries are doing similarly badly on the plastics front.
This is a tiny hotel compared to the huge hotels around us. It's literally pissing into the wind.
I care a little more at home as I'm concerned on a local level with keeping our streets and waterways free of litter. But bigger picture...we're doomed.

Together we are very powerful. We can be minimal and conscientious consumers. We can lobby our MP. We can choose who we vote for. We can protest and campaign. I don’t agree we can’t do anything. Whilst we need legislation it’s is that create the pressure to do so.

This planet will survive. We may not.

Labour changed policy on this due to lack of money thanks to Liz Truss.