Plastic is a huge recycling program—and a health hazard. It takes 47 million gallons of oil to produce the plastic water bottles Americans use each year. Did you know that 86% percent don’t get recycled? It would be like taking 100,000 cars off the road and 1 billion pounds of carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere if they did. In addition, trace amounts of petroleum can leach into plastic, which breaks down with increased exposure to heat and cold (dishwashing, microwaving, freezing). Studies have linked the ingestion of plastic to health and fertility issues. Glass is superior, but impractical for many uses, such as schools. If you have to use plastic, try to recycle it, and explain to your child the importance of recycling.
Cloth grocery bags are hip! Ralphs, Trader Joe’s, Whole Foods, Vons, and Gelson’s all sell cloth bags as alternatives to plastic. Stores also offer a discount when you use your own bags. LFCSA is working on designs for our very own cloth bag. Be on the lookout.
LFCSA’s Green Team recycling committee is headed by Cecily Harrison and Sherrell Cuneo, reachable at gogreen@losfelizarts.org.
