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Take

Climate Action

in the Cafeteria!

National

Join schools across the US for

NO plastic from School Lunch

at P.S. 188 (except for milk cartons)

5th graders from

P.S. 188 The Island School

It’s possible!

www.plasticfreelunch.org

Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-

ShareAlike 4.0 International License

CafCu Media @cafeteriacu @CafCu CafeteriaCulture

If you’re a teacher in New York City… NYC public schools now have monthly Plastic Free Lunch Days https://www.cafeteriaculture.org/nyc-plastic-free-lunch-days.html

Join in the NATIONAL Plastic Free Lunch Day - USA, coming again, November 8, 2023 and April 2024. www.plasticfreelunch.org

Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License

This interactive open-resource is designed to be tailored by you for your audience. Please share this open source “teach-in” widely with others. It is designed for you to tailor for your specific audience and to be as interactive as possible.

MESSAGE for TEACHERS: Please make a copy of the presentation if you make any changes for your lesson. And please share them with us, along with any improvisations, or insights during your lesson. We want to hear from you!
Send any comments to rhonda@cafeteriaculture.org
TALKING POINTS for each slide are here in the Presenter Notes. (to access it in class, click on Presenter View on the upper right hand corner above the doc.)
On some slides, we include optional resources and links in case you want to dig deeper into the topic OR if you want to check out the full source for each topic.

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Get inspired!

Sign up to host a free screening of the movie!

https://bit.ly/FreeCafCuScreening

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What is Plastic Free Lunch Day?

A day when school lunch is prepared without plastic!

An action day to reduce as much plastic as possible.

A campaign to dramatically reduce plastic use in all schools.

Students take climate action in their school cafeteria.

Why is plastic a problem?

www.plasticfreelunch.org

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Why Plastic Free Lunch Day?

Let’s watch this short movie and then talk about it!

www.PlasticFreeLunch.org

GET READY for PLASTIC FREE LUNCH DAY!

Play video at this link.

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What about our waste at lunch?

If we sort everything into the correct bins,

is PLASTIC still a problem ?

Does your cafeteria have a “sorting station”

Do you know where plastic STARTS and where it ENDS UP?

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We know that PLASTIC pollution is a problem

in our oceans & rivers

MARINE PLASTIC POLLUTION

kills more than a million seabirds every year,

and more than 100,000 marine mammals.

Plastic is eaten by marine wildlife of all sizes, from plankton to giant whales.

Plastic inside a turtle’s stomach

Sperm whale dead off Taiwan, stomach full of plastic bags + fishing nets

Microfiber in Zooplankton

Photo: Alejandro Fallabrino

Photo: Channel News Asia

Photo: Richard Kirby

Have you heard about the deadly effects of marine plastic pollution on wildlife?

Maybe you have seen photos of wildlife hurt by plastic pollution.

Plastic pollution has a deadly effect on wildlife.

Globally, 100,000 marine mammals die every year as a result of plastic pollution. This includes whales, dolphins, porpoises, seals and sea lions. There are two principle ways that encountering marine debris can be fatal for these creatures: ingestion (eating) or entanglement in plastic-based fishing gear. Oct 11, 2018

> 8 million tons of plastics enter our waterways every year, which is like dumping a truckload of garbage per minute into our oceans
80% percent of ocean plastic originates on land
While we may have seen many photos of the impact of larger pieces of plastic pollution on wildlife, it is harder to grasp the magnitude of the microplastic problem on marine life.

“Marine organisms at the base of the food chain including plankton and fish larvae are known to consume microplastics, and filter-feeding animals which humans eat, such as oysters and scallops, ingest the particles as they filter seawater.” (Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI; more below)

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

RESOURCES

Plastic in our oceans is killing marine mammals. Oct 2018, World Wildlife Federation https://www.wwf.org.au/news/blogs/plastic-in-our-oceans-is-killing-marine-mammals#gs.wos9rp

--

Marine MIcroplastics, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI)�https://www.whoi.edu/know-your-ocean/ocean-topics/pollution/marine-microplastics/

What are marine microplastics?

Marine microplastics are small fragments of plastic debris that are less than five millimeters long. Some microplastics, known as primary microplastics, are “micro” by design:

Microbeads, for example, are tiny plastic spheres manufacturers add to body washes, toothpastes and other products to give them extra scrubbing power.
Lentil-sized pellets known as nurdles, which are used in the manufacture of many common plastic products, are also intentionally small.

Secondary microplastics are fragmented particles of plastic resulting from the “weathering” of larger pieces of plastic debris, such as water bottles, straws, cups, and car fenders from exposure to sunlight, temperature, and humidity over time. Ocean waves can also degrade larger plastics by repeatedly washing over them and grinding them into the sand.

Where are microplastics found?

Scientists believe microplastics are present in oceans around the world, but unlike larger plastics which can be seen unaided, microplastics are harder to find. Ocean currents and circulation patterns move microplastics around like confetti, making them difficult to track. Scientists have only recently begun looking for microplastic “hot spots” in the ocean by determining where larger plastics enter the water and creating computer models to predict where the broken-down fragments end up.

Why are marine microplastics important?

A 2015 study estimated that roughly eight million tons of plastics enter the world’s oceans each year, yet only one percent is found floating at the surface in visible form. This suggests that the bulk of plastics in the ocean are likely microplastics suspended in the water or buried in sediments—yet scientists are only beginning to understand where they might be, not to mention their potential impacts on ocean life, ecosystems, and human health.

Do marine microplastics pose a health risk to marine life and people?

Many people have seen photos that demonstrate the impacts larger plastics can have on marine life, whether it’s a sea turtle snarled in a plastic six-pack ring or a dolphin entangled in plastic fishing gear. While the impacts of larger plastics are well understood, far less is known about the health impacts associated with microplastics.

Marine organisms at the base of the food chain including plankton and fish larvae are known to consume microplastics, and filter-feeding animals which humans eat, such as oysters and scallops, ingest the particles as they filter seawater.

--

Facts and Figures on Marine Pollution, UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization http://www.unesco.org/new/en/natural-sciences/ioc-oceans/focus-areas/rio-20-ocean/blueprint-for-the-future-we-want/marine-pollution/facts-and-figures-on-marine-pollution/#:~:text=Plastic%20debris%20causes%20the%20deaths,more%20than%20100%2C000%20marine%20mammals

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MAKING plastic hurts the planet

In 2019, plastic production

made as much

greenhouse gas emissions

as 352 MILLION cars.

Plastic production creates greenhouse gas emissions, which contribute to

climate change.

PLASTIC POLLUTION IS MORE THAN AN OCEAN PROBLEM!

Plastic pollution is not just a problem for our oceans, rivers and bays. It’s also a climate issue and a human health issue.
MAKING plastic hurst the planet by creating dangerous greenhouse gas emissions that worsen the Climate.

As greenhouse gas emissions blanket the Earth, they trap the sun's heat. This leads to global warming and climate change. The world is now warming faster than at any point in recorded history. Warmer temperatures over time are changing weather patterns and disrupting the usual balance of nature. https://www.un.org › climatechange › science › causes-eff...

Causes and Effects of Climate Change - the United Nations

A deeper dive:

What Is Climate Change? https://www.un.org/en/climatechange/what-is-climate-change)
How plastics contribute to climate change They generate heat-trapping gases at every stage of their life cycle. “Plastic pollution is not just an oceans issue. It’s a climate issue and it’s a human health issue,”

In 2019, production and incineration of plastic added more than 850 million metric tons of greenhouses gases to the atmosphere.

https://www.ciel.org/project-update/plastic-climate-the-hidden-costs-of-a-plastic-planet/

In 2019, plastics generated 1.8 gigatonnes (Gt) of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions - with 90% of those emissions coming from their production and conversion into fossil fuels.

https://read.oecd-ilibrary.org/environment/global-plastics-outlook_de747aef-en#page25

0.9*1.8=1.62

1.62 gigatonnes of GHG emissions in 2019 from plastic production

1.62 Gt = 1,620,000,000 tonnes

1,620,000,000 metric tonnes / 4.6 metric tonnes per passenger vehicle = 352,173,913 passenger vehicles

A typical passenger vehicle emits about 4.6 metric tons of carbon dioxide per year.

https://www.epa.gov/greenvehicles/greenhouse-gas-emissions-typical-passenger-vehicle#:~:text=typical%20passenger%20vehicle%3F-,A%20typical%20passenger%20vehicle%20emits%20about%204.6%20metric%20tons%20of,8%2C887%20grams%20of%20CO2.

Image: https://e360.yale.edu/features/the-plastics-pipeline-a-surge-of-new-production-is-on-the-way

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MAKING plastic hurts PEOPLE

Making plastic hurts other communities before we even use it.

St. James Parish, Louisiana

Sharon Lavigne and Rise St. James

Petrochemical plant

Next to farmland? Who eats those crops?

People in communities have to fight

to make their voices heard.

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Plastic hurts people & communities

from start to finish

Andrew Yawn/The American South

from MAKING IT..

landfill

incinerator

Rise St. James is a grassroots organization fighting a petrochemical plant for clean air .

People in environmental justice communities

Are fighting to make their voices heard.

Photo: D'Arcy Norman/Flickr

Ironbound Community Corporation

petrochemical plant

landfill

RISE ST. JAMES

to throwing it AWAY!

How can we reduce the damage that plastic causes to communities all over our country?

We can reduce the amount of plastic waste that goes to landfills or incinerators through recycling and composting. But we can also MAKE LESS of it TO BEGIN WITH! (this is an “upstream solution”
By adopting zero-waste principles, we can create a society that uplifts a shared value of ourselves and our resources. – EarthJustice.org

IMAGE DESCRIPTIONS

Rise St. James, is fighting for clean air in their neighborhoods. A group in Louisiana led by Sharon LaVigne (in the yellow t-shirt), has been speaking out against the toxic chemicals being released into the air and water, including New Orleans’ water supply by Formosa, a petrochemical plant located near their town. They are fighting against a new plant that Formosa wants to add and they won a recent fight. But the company is promising to keep trying to locate their new plant there!
A petrochemical plant in Louisiana that makes plastic pellets and pollutes the air where people live, work, and go to school.
A landfill is where our waste from homes, schools, and businesses is buried and stored forever.

Landfills are dangerous to human health because of:

the liquid that often leaks into the ground, which can bring toxins into the local groundwater
the gases – like methane, a powerful greenhouse gas – from decomposing waste that are released into the air. These gases can cause respiratory problems for people who live nearby and worsen to global climate change.

“Studies have shown that landfills are more often constructed near low-income neighborhoods and communities of color. Due to this injustice, these people are more likely to experience the health risks associated with landfills.” �Read more: Landfills | National Geographic Society (ages 5th - 8th grades)

Newark children from the Ironbound district in New Jersey demand clean air instead of pollution from local incinerators. New Jersey’s Dirty Secret: The Injustice of Incinerators and Trash Energy in New Jersey’s Frontline Communities | Earth Justice (February 2021)

Incineration … converts waste into air pollution and toxic ash that contaminate the surrounding communities, which more often than not are communities of color and low-income.
Incinerator companies label incineration as clean energy, incineration is one of the most polluting and most expensive methods to generate energy.
By adopting zero-waste principles, we can create a society that uplifts a shared value of ourselves and our resources. – EarthJustice.org

Newark, NJ’s incinerator takes all of Manhattan’s residential and school garbage, burdening their community with truck traffic as well as incinerator smoke:

MORE about Rise St. James and their struggle.

The African-American community living on the banks of the Mississippi River in St. James, Louisiana has already been sickened by industrial polluters. The region is referred to as "Cancer Alley" or"Death Alley" by those who live and die there. They are fighting to make their voices heard that a new plastic plant will pose greater risk to public health.
Court strikes blow to Formosa Plastics plant in Louisiana's 'Cancer Alley' | Grist September 16, 2022

“Formosa was wrong to even want to come in here and poison us because we’re already being poisoned,” Sharon Lavigne, a lifelong parish resident, told Grist. After Formosa selected her hometown for its new chemical complex, Lavigne founded Rise St. James, a faith-based grassroots organization with the explicit goal of stopping Formosa’s plans.
It’s part of the fossil fuel industry’s push to turn an oversupply of fracked natural gas into more throwaway plastic. Plastic that may choke wildlife and add to the ocean plastic crisis.

5 things to know about Formosa, a new petrochemical plant in Cancer Alley The American South, 2020

MORE ABOUT ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE

EPA unveils new office to place environmental justice at agency’s core - The Washington Post (September 24, 2022)�“Even before national newspapers and television networks covered the Warren County protests in 1982, poor and segregated communities around the nation had largely worked in the shadows, battling coal-fired power plants, sewage treatment facilities, fossil fuel refineries, landfills and other pollution sources.”
Toxic racism confronted by DOJ's environmental discrimination probes | Reuters

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TRUCKING plastic makes AIR POLLUTION

What comes out of the tailpipes of these trucks?

Trucks produce exhaust.
Trucks take plastic products from factories to stores
Trucks pick up our garbage from our homes, schools, and offices and take it away sometimes to locations thousands of miles away.

Transporting chemicals by rail that are used to make plastics is also dangerous!

A deeper dive for Middle and High School students:

see recent news articles about the catastrophic 38-train car derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, which was transporting vinyl chloride, a known carcinogen used to make the plastic, PVC, now raising concerns about toxic substances in the environment
“The East Palestine disaster was a direct result of the country’s reliance on fossil fuels and plastic. The hazardous chemicals being transported by the derailed train — including vinyl chloride, a known carcinogen — are used to make PVC, the world’s third most used type of plastic.” Boston Globe, Feb, 24, 2023, Judith Enck https://www.bostonglobe.com/2023/02/24/opinion/east-palestine-disaster-was-direct-result-countrys-reliance-fossil-fuels-plastic/

Extra Credit discussion:

“What if someone from another town asks our principal, “ I have 2 huge truckloads of old stinky garbage from students in my town. I noticed that you have lots of space behind the school in the playground. I’ll give you $20,000 if you let me dump this garbage, and leave it here FOREVER.

(Ask the class …) Should Ms/Mr. (Principal) take someone else’s trash and the money? What about our playground/courtyard? Will it be safe for us to play in? (Give the class a chance to answer … There is no right or wrong answer)

Why are people in other towns taking our stinky old garbage?

Read more on Environmental Justice and garbage:

This Baltimore 20-year-old just won a huge international award for taking out a giant trash incinerator

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2016/04/18/this-baltimore-20-year-old-just-won-a-huge-international-award-for-taking-out-a-giant-trash-incinerator/?utm_term=.6411975d0fbc

--

http://observer.com/2008/04/wasted-new-york-citys-giant-garbage-problem/#ixzz2sDahNmjR

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Trucks bring plastic to your cafeteria

Plastic is transported all over the WORLD! It goes to stores, restaurants, and SCHOOLS!

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School Cafeteria Plastic

Single-use plastics are used for about 20 minutes during lunch.

That means we use it

ONE TIME

and then throw it AWAY..

Most of the plastic in our cafeteria is SINGLE-USE.

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How much plastic is in your cafeteria?

One student lunch

All lunches from just one day on one school!

Single-Use Plastic adds up!

⬇︎

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What about throwing

plastic AWAY?

NYC, Ave. A, Oct 24, 2020

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Where is AWAY?

Disposed of Correctly

Disposed of Incorrectly

NYC, Ave. A, Oct 24, 2020

Disposed of Correctly

Disposed of Incorrectly

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Where does our waste go?

LANDFILL

INCINERATOR

RECYCLED

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Where does our waste go?

When you put your plastic waste in a TRASH CAN, where does it end up?

???

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Where does our waste go?

3/4 of it goes into a LANDFILL (79%)

¾

goes

into a landfill

(79%)

landfill

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Where does our waste go?

3/4 of it goes into a LANDFILL (79%)

LANDFILL

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Where does our waste go?

LANDFILLS

produce methane,

a greenhouse gas…

Photo: D'Arcy Norman/Flickr

AND leak chemicals

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Where does our waste go?

INCINERATORS burn someone else’s garbage

Robert Sciarrino/The Star-Ledger

and then hurt people who live near them.

IRONBOUND COMMUNITY CORPORATION

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Where does our waste go?

1/6 of it goes to an incinerator (12%)

1

6

INCINERATOR

LANDFILL

incinerator

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Where does our waste go?

1/6 of it goes to an incinerator (12%)

LANDFILL

INCINERATOR

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Where does our waste go?

ONLY 1/12 of it gets recycled! (9%)

Only of the items get recycled! (9%)

1

12

LANDFILL

INCINERATOR

RECYCLED

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Is RECYCLING the answer?

Only 9% of plastic is recycled!

Almost two-thirds of the USA’s ‘recycling’ is shipped overseas!

To LANDFILL: 79%

and the environment

INCINERATED: 12%

RECYCLED: 9%

Did you know…?

Most plastic can only be recycled once!

Most plastic is NOT recycled!

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Plastic Harms Everyone, but not Equally

Production

Plastic factories are

Disposal

Transportation

If you were in charge of WHERE to put plastic factories, highways, landfills, and incinerators,

would you put them near where you live?

BRUCE BENNETT/GETTY IMAGES

BRYAN PARRAS /SIERRA CLUB

The whole system of plastic, from production to transportation to disposal�is built and located near neighborhoods�where people of lower income and people of color live.

WPMI/WNBC15

We can

make our voices heard.

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What about

plastic LITTER?

Disposed of Correctly

NYC, Ave. A, Oct 24, 2020

Disposed of Incorrectly

Disposed of Correctly

Disposed of Incorrectly

LITTER

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One more place where our plastic ends up

©CafeteriaCulture 2021

©CafeteriaCulture 2018

©CafeteriaCulture 2020

Is this the end of the journey?

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Our litter ends up in the ocean

Rain washes street litter into the sewer.

The sewer takes it to the ocean

NYC Schools use THIS SLIDE

When it rains in New York City and over 700 other municipalities in the US, the large amounts of water cause combined sewer systems to overflow, allowing street litter and raw sewage to flow directly out to our local waterways and eventually making its way to the ocean.

Read more on Combined Sewer Overflow in NYC

http://www.nyc.gov/html/dep/html/stormwater/combined_sewer_overflow.shtml

“New York City, like other older urban communities, is largely serviced by a combined sewer system where stormwater that falls on roofs, streets, and sidewalks, and wastewater from homes and businesses are carried through a single sewer line to treatment plants. The City’s 14 treatment plants can manage and treat to federal Clean Water Act standards all the wastewater created in New York City on a dry weather day, or about 1.3 billion gallons on average. On a rainy day they have the capacity to clean more than twice the dry weather flows. However, during intense precipitation events, the stormwater that falls on the city’s impervious surfaces exceeds that capacity and overflows can be discharged into local waterways. If the overflows were not discharged, the City’s treatment plants would be flooded and severely damaged and wastewater could backup into homes and businesses.

Learn more from NYC DEP

http://www.nyc.gov/html/dep/html/press_releases/16-098pr.shtml#.WB_cXRQ-Mq8

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Our litter ends up in the ocean

Rain washes street litter into

the ocean or other nearby bodies of water

Schools OUTSIDE NYC use THIS SLIDE

When it rains in New York City and over 700 other municipalities in the US, the large amounts of water cause combined sewer systems to overflow, allowing street litter and raw sewage to flow directly out to our local waterways and eventually making its way to the ocean.

Read more on Combined Sewer Overflow in NYC

http://www.nyc.gov/html/dep/html/stormwater/combined_sewer_overflow.shtml

“New York City, like other older urban communities, is largely serviced by a combined sewer system where stormwater that falls on roofs, streets, and sidewalks, and wastewater from homes and businesses are carried through a single sewer line to treatment plants. The City’s 14 treatment plants can manage and treat to federal Clean Water Act standards all the wastewater created in New York City on a dry weather day, or about 1.3 billion gallons on average. On a rainy day they have the capacity to clean more than twice the dry weather flows. However, during intense precipitation events, the stormwater that falls on the city’s impervious surfaces exceeds that capacity and overflows can be discharged into local waterways. If the overflows were not discharged, the City’s treatment plants would be flooded and severely damaged and wastewater could backup into homes and businesses.

Learn more from NYC DEP

http://www.nyc.gov/html/dep/html/press_releases/16-098pr.shtml#.WB_cXRQ-Mq8

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Plastics become microplastics

Plastic items break up on the beach from waves and sun

Waves break up big pieces into smaller ones.

The smaller microplastics wash out to sea.

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Fish eat plastics and microplastics

Marine animals get confused and think

plastic in the ocean is food!

Eating plastic

and microplastics

can make them sick

or even die

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Microplastics are everywhere

beer

salt

water

honey

air

waterways

marine life

The plastic pollution problem is now at the crisis stage. Scientists have found microplastics in the deepest parts of the ocean, and in our soil, food, water and air.
Recent studies have also found microplastics in our bodies: our gut, our tissues, our poop, our blood, human placenta, and the deepest part of human lungs.
Making & disposing of plastic is fueling the climate crisis.
We should all be alarmed and moved to take action

A new study that found microplastics in 80% of human blood samples (March, 2022) and another study that discovered microplastics lodged deep in the tissue of humans' lungs in April 2022.

Plastic is made from fossil fuels.
Plastics are the 5th largest contributor of greenhouse gas emissions.
91% of plastic is NOT recycled.
Plastic kills 100,000 marine animals every year.
The US creates more plastic waste than any other nation.
Plastic never goes away. It degrades into tiny microplastics.
Scientists have found microplastics in the deepest parts of the ocean, and in our soil, food, water and air.
Recent studies have also found microplastics in our bodies: our gut, our tissues, our poop, our blood!
We are all eating and breathing microplastics.

Learn more: http://www.cafeteriaculture.org/the-plastic-pollution-crisis.html

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PLASTICFREELUNCH.ORG

NEXT STEPS!

Cafeteria sorting is EASIER to sort withOUT single-use plastic!

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WHAT CAN WE DO???

FOR TEACHERS

Thanks to student data, NYC SCHOOLS now offer a PLASTIC-FREE LUNCH for ONE DAY every MONTH!

GET YOUR SCHOOL ON BOARD!

YOUR STUDENTS’ VOICES ARE CRUCIAL!

Ask your kitchen staff to participate by�NOT SERVING single-use PLASTIC on this menu day!

Use CafCu tools to write letters, make posters and morning announcements
Bonus lessons will help you collect data with your students!

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Do a Waste Check Up!

�

Collect Data to Know What We Throw!!

Collect BEFORE and DAY OF data

to measure the success

of your waste reduction actions!

Educate and Engage

your whole school community!

RESOURCES for TEACHERS

bit.ly/PFLDwastecheckup

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During

Lunch

Make a check mark on all the single-use items in your lunch.

DISCUSS:

2. Which items are made of plastic?

3. Are there alternatives to plastic?

4. Can we reduce plastic?

After

Lunch

Students search and find single-use plastic in their lunch.

RESOURCES for TEACHERS

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Single-Use Plastic Search

�

Observe like a scientist!

Suggested Activity

If we know what kind

and

how much plastic

we have, we know exactly

what to reduce!

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What can we do to have a

Plastic Free Lunch Day in our school?

We can ask our School Food Manager and Principal to participate in Plastic Free Lunch Day!

marine life

Can we eliminate one of these from our cafeteria?

Condiment packets
Straws
Sandwich wrappers
Anything else?

Bringing lunch from home? Could you use a reusable container or bottle?

Share this video

with your

School Food manager for plastic free

lunch tips!

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What can we do to have a

Plastic Free Lunch Day in our school?

marine life

Use this sample letter to write your own letter to your School Food Manager or Principal!

USE YOUR DATA!

marine life

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Try more lessons!

Put students in charge of SOLUTIONS!!

Garbology 101 Part 3: �Where is Away?

GET the MICROPLASTIC MADNESS TOOLKIT

bit.ly/MicroMadToolkit

Garbology 101 Part 2: Why Should We Sort?

RESOURCES for TEACHERS

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creating A Plastic Free Culture!

Join us monthly in NYC!

Follow the menu to plan your next PFLD!

bit.ly/NYCLunchMenu

and NATIONALLY

every

April and November!

and on Instagram: nycps/ofns

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BONUS MICROPLASTICS SLIDES

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The Plastic Pollution Crisis

We are all eating, drinking and breathing plastic!

A 2021 study found 25,000 micron-sized microplastic particles released into a 100 ml (<½ cup) of hot liquid (85-90° C) residing in the paper cups for 15 minutes.

A recent study in Nature found that plastic baby bottles shed microplastics when they are heated, and bottle fed babies may consume >1.5 million particles of microplastic per day!

Photo: Allison Shelley

Sources:

“Microplastics and other harmful substances released from disposable paper cups into hot water”, Rajan et. al, Journal of Hazardous Materials. 2021.

“Microplastic release from the degradation of polypropylene feeding bottles during infant formula preparation,” Li et. al, Nature, 2020.

Photo: Cafeteria Culture

We are literally eating, drinking and breathing plastic. The largest source of ingesting plastic may be our drinking water.
People who drink bottled water rather than tap water can add up to 90,000 plastic particles to their yearly total.
Bottle fed babies may consume more than 1.5 million particles of microplastics per day.
Disposable paper cups, made with a thin plastic film liner (Polyethylene, the plastic that most carry-out plastic bags are made of), release microplastics when the cup comes in contact with hot liquid. So, a person drinking 3 cups of tea or coffee daily, in a paper cup, would be ingesting 75,000 tiny microplastic particles per day
Plastic is toxic, and includes 144 chemicals or chemical groups known to be hazardous to human health. Microplastic particles are so pervasive in our food and water that the average person ingests a credit card’s worth of plastic (5g) every week.
The endocrine disrupting chemicals found in plastics harm our health and can cause cancer, diabetes, reproductive disorders, and neurological impairments in development (Flaws et al., 2020).

-------------------------------------------------------------------------- * --------------------------------------------------------------------------

RESOURCES

Study: Plastic Baby Bottles Shed Microplastics When Heated. Should You Be Worried? Oct 2020, NPR�https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2020/10/19/925525183/study-plastic-baby-bottles-shed-microplastics-when-heated-should-you-be-worried#:~:text=via%20Getty%20Images-,A%20new%20study%20shows%20that%20plastic%20baby%20bottles%2C%20when%20heated,release%20microplastics%20into%20the%20liquid.&text=The%20study%20suggests%20that%20bottle,microplastics%20per%20day%20on%20average.

--

How to Eat Less Plastic, Consumer Reports, Apr 2020 https://www.consumerreports.org/health-wellness/how-to-eat-less-plastic-microplastics-in-food-water/

Each of us might be eating and drinking as much as 5 grams of plastic per week, which is equivalent to a credit card’s worth of plastic.
...the world has produced more than 10 billion tons of the stuff, mostly since the 1950s, and we just keep making more. In 2018, manufacturers created almost 400 million tons of new plastic, and [plastic] production is expected to almost quadruple by 2050. The vast majority of that plastic eventually ends up piled up around the planet. Some of it may last for hundreds of years, and when it does break down, it can become small particles of plastic—microplastics—that spread farther across the planet, entering our water and food supply.

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Coffee with a side of microplastics: paper cups likely leach plastic into your cup of joe. Nov 27, 2020 https://www.zmescience.com/science/coffee-with-a-side-of-microplastics-paper-cups-likely-leech-plastic-into-your-cup-of-joe/

Paper cups have a plastic layer, which release microplastics when in touch with hot water

Disposable paper cups are made of 90–95% paper, and the remaining 5–10% is a hydrophobic plastic film. Mostly, the interior layer is made of Polyethylene (PE). Studies have shown in the past that harmful chemicals and substances can leach from paper into the food or drink meant for human consumption.

Globally, some 264 billion paper cups were produced in 2019 for consuming food and beverages.

They found that 25,000 micron-sized microplastic particles are released into 100 mL (in < ½ cup) of hot liquid (85 to 90ºC) residing in the paper cups for 15 minutes. Thus, an average person drinking three regular cups of tea or coffee daily, in a paper cup, would be ingesting 75,000 tiny microplastic particles.

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Microplastics and other harmful substances released from disposable paper cups into hot water. Ranjan, V. P., Joseph, A., & Goel, S. (2021). Journal of Hazardous Materials, 404, 124118. Doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhazmat.2020.124118

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Cited in Science Direct: Microplastics and other harmful substances released from disposable paper cups into hot water https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0304389420321087

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Study: Plastic Baby Bottles Shed Microplastics When Heated. Should You Be Worried?, Oct 19, 2020, NPR�Maria Godoy at NPR headquarters in Washington, D.C., May 22, 2018. (photo by Allison Shelley)�https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2020/10/19/925525183/study-plastic-baby-bottles-shed-microplastics-when-heated-should-you-be-worried#:~:text=via%20Getty%20Images-,A%20new%20study%20shows%20that%20plastic%20baby%20bottles%2C%20when%20heated,release%20microplastics%20into%20the%20liquid.&text=The%20study%20suggests%20that%20bottle,microplastics%20per%20day%20on%20average

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Microplastic release from the degradation of polypropylene feeding bottles during infant formula preparation Li, D., Shi, Y., Yang, L. et al. Microplastic release from the degradation of polypropylene feeding bottles during infant formula preparation. Nat Food 1, 746–754 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1038/s43016-020-00171-y

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The Plastic Pollution Crisis

Source:“Outside the Safe Operating Space of the Planetary Boundary for Novel Entities Environ. Sci. Technol”, �Persson, L., Carney Almroth, Collins, C.D., Cornell, S., de Wit, C. et.al. 2022..

FRED DUFOUR, AFP, GETTY

The total mass of plastics now exceeds the total mass of all living mammals.

– The Stockholm Resilience Centre

FRED DUFOUR, AFP, GETTY