Plastic is everywhere. Some uses are beneficial and unavoidable, like the specialty plastics that enable contact lenses and lightweight eyeglasses. Other uses are less beneficial but often seem almost equally unavoidable. Take grocery shopping as an example. Unless we milk our own cows, make our own cheese, bake our own bread, shop exclusively at farmers markets and bulk stores, and never order takeout, most of the food we consume is likely packaged in plastic. Even if we avoid bagged salads and cut fruit, our individual produce items are generally marked with scannable stickers. Bread comes in plastic bags, as do staples like beans and rice. Milk, water, and soft drinks are nearly always bottled in plastic, avoiding the weight of glass. Toiletries and cleaning supplies come in plastic containers, arguably safer than easily breakable glass. All that plastic is a problem.

First, nearly all plastic is made from fossil fuels. All readers of this column are aware of the downsides of our fossil fuel dependence. What many do not know is that much of the natural gas from the fracking wells devastating Ohio and West Virginia is feed stock for the plastics industry, which according to the UN generates nearly two billion tons of greenhouse gases every year, a number that is expected to double in the next 30 years. Those emissions contribute to the atmospheric CO2 that is increasing the rate of climate change, bringing increased temperatures, sea level rise, and the now-regular algae blooms we see in Lake Erie and the rivers in our area.

Plastic also endangers biodiversity. We have probably all seen images of sea turtles strangled by plastic six-pack holders. The Great Pacific Garbage Patch, a floating blend of plastics large and small, covers an area larger than Texas. Sea birds, whales, and other wildlife mistake plastic items for food and starve to death, their stomachs filled with indigestible junk.

Finally, plastic endangers human health in multiple ways. The hotter summers caused by climate change have led to an increase in heat-related deaths. According to the World Health Organization, overall heat-related deaths have increased by 85% in this century; in the U.S., a 2024 study found the rate of increase to be 117%. Several recent news articles have indicated dangers to both players and fans taking part in the World Cup currently being held in North America. In a number of the sixteen host cities, game-time temperatures are often in the 90s. At least one player in a semifinal game in New Jersey, a young man in peak physical condition, collapsed from heat exhaustion. Babies and old people are at greater risk.

Many of the chemicals involved in plastic manufacturing and use are toxic. Most of us in the MOV remember the PFAS disaster involving the Dupont Washington Works and the resulting cancers and birth defects. Studies of workplace exposure have found higher-than-average rates of cancers of the lung, prostate, liver, stomach, and kidney, as well as twice the average rate of breast cancer. Of course, it is not only workers in the industry who are exposed. Neighborhoods in the vicinity of manufacturing facilities host higher rates of a number of illnesses, including leukemia. All plastics shed particles known as microplastics, which have found their way into our bodies, including, scientists now believe, all human placentas. The health effects are still being studied, but there is concern that the increase in colon cancer in young people may be one result.

The Plastic Free Foundation is working to change the situation and reverse some of the damage plastic causes. One initiative in which we can all take part is Plastic-Free July, which calls on us to eliminate as much of our plastic use as possible for at least one month of the year. Next week’s Climate Corner will give more information on the initiative, but you can learn more this weekend at the Mid-Ohio Valley Multicultural Festival at Civitan Park in Belpre, going on until Sunday at 5 p.m.. MOVCA will have a table at the event, with information on Plastic-Free July and other climate-related issues. You can also learn more at Plastic-Free July’s website, https://www.plasticfreejuly.org/.

Rebecca Phillips is a retired educator and a member of MOVCA.