PVC’s main ingredients is chlorine which, when produced, releases harmful dioxins into the environment. Dioxins are known human carcinogens, linked to serious health problems such as cancer, reproductive, developmental and immune problems. In addition, PVC requires nasty additives, including heavy metals such as lead and phthalates.
You may have heard about phthalates or seen the word on labels. Phthalates (pronounced ‘tha-lates’) are a group of chemicals added to plastics to increase their pliability, transparency and durability. They are what make your yoga mat soft, flexible and grippy. That new car smell? Phthalates. New shower curtain smell? Phthalates. Phthalates are known as ‘endocrine disruptors’ because they mimic the body’s hormones and are linked to liver and testicular cancer, reproductive problems, birth defects and learning disabilities. Phthalates are easily released into the environment because there are no covalent bonds between phthalates and the plastics in which they are mixed. We are exposed to pthalates when we get upclose and personal with our mats, breathing them in as they off-gas and by simple skin contact.
There is no safe way to destroy or even recycle yoga mats that contain PVC. When incinerated, PVC produces hydrogen chloride gas, that is extremely toxic to marine life, animals and of course humans. They are not biodegradable and when placed in landfills (many of whch are unlined) they leach chemicals into soil and then eventually into ground and surface water.
Where to from here? Don’t worry, it’s not all doom and gloom! The good news is; alternatives exisit for almost all uses of PVC. As consumers recognise the risks associated with PVC and increasingly opt for alternatives, we can start to replace and eventually phase out this poison plastic. By choosing PVC-free, it is possible to protect our health as well as the health of future generations and their planet.
Shop consciously friends. Choose PVC alternatives.
]]>All of the plastic that has ever been made is still inexistence today, and probably will be for a while. A lowly plastic shopping bag takes around 20 years to break up (not down), leaving chemicals and toxic particles (microplastics) behind, contaminating rivers, oceans and the guts of birds and sealife. It then moves down the food chain to us, and our children. That’s really not okay!
A plastic bottle will stick around for about 450 years! Four hundred and fifty years! One bottle! Work that one out. Now I’m I know most people probably can’t eliminate plastic out of their lives completely, you’d probably go a bit loopy trying, but we can all definitely be more aware. Enter plastic-free July!
Plastic-free July aims to build awareness around single-use plastic and challenges people to do something about it, by taking action in any way they can, no matter how big or small. It’s a global campaign that makes you think about the choices you are making. Or not making. You’ll be joining a million+ people world-wide from 130 countries in making a difference. Check it out here http://www.plasticfreejuly.org and do what you can. The time is now!]]>