Many people today are aware or becoming increasingly aware of the plastic problem facing our planet. Plastics are being produced at an incredible rate, many of which are single-use and leading to the problem of mass contamination of our eco-system. The non-decomposable materials either never break down or when they do they release harmful chemicals and micro-plastics that impact human health.
Common items like food wrappers and containers, plastic bottles, and shipping/packing materials are usually deemed the "culprits" of this plastic pollution. However, there are so many other products that contribute to this problem. Other simple household items are overlooked and contribute to the problem too. Did you know that other things in your daily life like common children's toys, most workout apparel, stretch leggings/jeans, even your favorite micro-fleece throw blanket are likely largely plastic? Take a look at the product tags on some of the items around you - you will likely find polyester, acrylic, nylon, or other synthetic materials listed unless you've made the conscious choice to avoid them. That means they are plastic, and unfortunately it's very common.
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Think twice about the items around you and the products you use everyday to see if there are alternatives that can be used so you can avoid plastic based ones.
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Although many people recognize the threat of single-use plastics and may be trying to reduce their consumption of those items, so many of these other plastic items are never truly recognized without closer inspection. This is also true for household building materials.
Here are a list of some common plastic-based household building materials that you could choose to avoid in order to reduce your plastic consumption footprint when doing your next renovation or build:
- Luxury Vinyl Plank / Tile Floors
- Most common Carpets and Area Rugs (every "recommended" carpet product in a recent big-box-store search yielded only carpets that were made from a version of polyester, nylon, or olefin - all 100% plastic)
- Vinyl Siding
- Maintenance-free decking (typically virgin plastic or partially recycled)
- Vinyl Fencing
- Spray Foam Insulation (considered a plasticized foam)
- Laminate Flooring (vinyl top layer and typically filled with plastic-based adhesives)
We specifically would like to call attention to plastic based flooring/carpet which has a high exposure rate with your home's family members, pets, and guests, especially since there have been new concerns raised about children's direct contact with plastics and their micro-plastic inhalation. The good news is that flooring/carpet are one of the easiest household products to swap for a more natural material (like hardwoods or wool). Choosing not to avoid plastic based carpets and flooring is allowing your loved ones to walk, lay, and play on products which could pose serious health concerns and definite environmental concerns.
If that doesn't raise the red flag for you, consider watching this very eye-opening PBS documentary on plastic pollution (it's long, so you may want to watch it on 1.5x playback speed):
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Plan well. Build well. Be well.
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