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This website has long campaigned for the curtailment of the production of plastics and of the huge mountains of plastic waste being produced in the industrialised world. America, is one of the worlds worst polluters and now headed by a president who is a well-known climate change denier and one who puts the needs of traditional American industry before the needs of the planet and indeed of humankind. Here we highlight one of the most incidious polutants of our plant and of our bodies: cosmetics! As with most things in this world, women are affected far more than men - why?
Whilst men too are relatively recently bering bombarded with ridiculous adverts about cosmetics and a whole plethora of products falsely claiming to give you the 'perfect body'; it is women who traditionally have been the target of advertisers and the proponents of body-shame in an attempt to make billions in profits from so-called 'beauty products' and fashion. With micro-plastics now being in our food and drink, and more commonly in cosmetics for both women and men; no one knows just how bad the effect of this on our health and development and those of our children; this will be. The world's renowned magazine, National Geographic, has launched a new 'plastics edition' of their website and of their magazine, in which the full extent of plastic contamination of our bodies and that of Earth's environment is focused upon. One fact is that even the first plastics manufactured in the world, still exists today in one form or another. The very lethal form of cause is those of micro-plastics which are not only manufactured by the food and drink industry but also by the aforementioned 'beauty industry'. To quiote fro9m the National Geographic article: Every year five million to 14 million tons of plastic flow into the oceans from coastal areas. And every time you brush your teeth, wash your face, or take a shower, you could be sending more microplastics down the drain. As if that weren’t bad enough, inhaling particulates like microplastics has been linked to heart disease, asthma, and cancer. To avoid microplastics in your beauty regime, check out this video to learn how to interpret a product’s ingredients label:
Here are some basic 'plastic facts':
* 40 percent of plastic produced is packaging, used just once and then discarded: 448 million tons per year. * Shoppers in the United States use almost one per resident per day (365 million), whilst shoppers in Denmark use an average of four plastic bags a year. * Nearly half of all plastic ever manufactured has been made since 2000 * Half the world’s plastics are made in Asia. The lion’s share of that - 29 percent - is made in China, home to 18 percent of the world’s population. * Less than a fifth of all plastic is recycled globally. * Plastic recycling rates are highest in Europe at 30 percent. China’s rate is 25 percent. The United States recycles just 9 percent of its plastic trash. * In the UK (where there are no official figures kept) it is estimated that 3.7 million tonnes of plastic is produced annually of which only 32% is recycled. A huge chunck of this is shipped abroad to be recycled in China and India * The trade organisation Plastics Europe estimated in 2014 that 3.7 million tonnes of plastic was being used per year in the UK. Previous news items on this website over the last few years, on pollution and plastic waste include: New Packaging Waste Strategy Announced PVC The World's Most Popular Hazardous Plastic Ninety-Nine Percent Of The Waste We Dump In The Sea Is Missing But This Is Not A Good Thing Coca-Cola Ends Its Only European Glass Bottles Packaging Scheme And the worst news item of all in terms of showing the affect upon the bird and fish life of the planet which this website first published in March of 2013: Images To Awaken The Consciousness And Concern For The Planet We Leave For Our Children’s Children To use the words of the author of the special report: "Remember: the road to hell for our wildlife and future of our planet is riddled with good intentions. Scientific studies on pollution and general information, can be downloaded from the unionsafety E-Library Databaseusing the search category of 'Environment'.
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Well, in the case of plastics in our bodies it is a simple question to answer - because of the beauty and fashions industries!
* Some 18 billion pounds of plastic waste flows into the oceans every year from coastal regions.