Plastic free life = Good health + Good Environment

Plastic plastic and plastic...If you notice carefully, our home, offices are full of plastic material. We talk a lot about using polythene bags but did you really stop using it?? NOOOOO. We are using plastic everywhere. At some places we may not be able to avoid it but there are many things which can be changed.

Lets have the look at harmful impact of plastic and ways to avoid the same..

1) Plastic Tiffin Boxes/ Containers

Lot of plastic tiffin boxes/ containers are labeled “ Lead-safe” or “Lead-free”, “PVC-free” or “ Vinyl-free” and the plastic bottles labeled “ BPA-free”. They are marketed as a healthy option to other forms of plastic. You never know, tomorrow there will be a new study, which will say that there is new chemical which is not harmful and the earlier one was. These chemicals can easily leach into the food items stored in them. Its not only about heating these containers in microwave but also about putting hot food items in them. We always pour hot sabji/ daal/ roti when we cook in the morning and carry them to office / school, which is absolutely wrong. Also we should not carry any sour food in it. We dont pay attention to these thing and buy them because these containers and tiffins looks really attractive and durable. 

These chemicals disrupt the endocrine system and can cause harm to the reproductive systems of children and young girls. Girls/ women with thyroid, PCOD or any hormonal disorder should avoid using it. 

These chemicals also increases the risk of cancer

What to do then?????

Replace your plastic kitchen containers with stainless steel similar to what our mom, aunts have used in 60s-80s :). Its easy to clean and durable. Once you buy it you dont have to replace them for years. You can also replace plastic with glass jars which also looks great in the kitchen.

Replace your plastic tiffin boxes with steel or glass tiffins. Stainless steel is preferable than glass since glass tiffins have plastic lids.

Replace refrigerator bags and containers with glass/ steel containers. You can even use new handkerchief/ clothe to wrap leafy veggies...No paper..

2) Plastic Bags/ Polythene Bags

 We usually don't remember to carry fabric bags and then we ask shopkeeper to give us polythene bags. It takes few days to make it an habit of carrying bag yourself. Imagine even if 50-60% of us try to adopt this habit then there will be a great change.

Replace plastic bags with Fabric bags or Jute Bags

Not to mention that the plastic containers, bottles and bags are not bio degradable, thus causing irreparable damage to the environment. Ultimately it affects our health. So by reducing the use of plastic in our house we can, not only take care our health but also contribute towards a good cause. :)