Curious about what plastic news has been making headlines this week?
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Can you imagine a world where vegetables aren’t wrapped in plastic and instead sold in their… natural packaging? We can. It’s called nothing! Groundbreaking, we know. It may sound like common sense, but Walmart made headlines this week for trialing new plastic-free packaging for cucumbers. They will be replacing shrinkwrap with an “edible peel.” But why do we need man-made edible peels when it’s something cucumbers already have?
A new study from Australia shows that there are 14 million metric tons of microplastics sitting on the seafloor. That’s approximately 35 times as much plastic as researchers believe to be floating on the ocean’s surface. And that’s not even all of the plastic that’s in the oceans. Most of the plastic that is dumped in the ocean ends up on the coasts, rather than on the ocean’s surface or floor, researchers say.
Finally, did you know that plastic could be poisoning you? A new report suggests even small amounts of chemical additives can result in cancer, damage immune and reproductive systems, and even cause developmental delays. The evidence suggests that plastic products and packaging are harming the environment and also poisoning consumers. From production, to use, to recycling, landfill, or incineration, The different chemical additives in plastic pose varying hazards to humans, marine life, and air from production, to use, to recycling, landfill, or incineration.
That’s a wrap on this week’s plastic news update. Remember friends, stay cool as a plastic-free cucumber and say no to single-use!