PLASTIC POLLUTION

The Four Environments

We spoke about the four environments in our article on panic attacks, so it might seem odd to be talking about them in the context of plastic.  However, once the four environments are understood it makes complete sense because although they are separate, they are equally interdependent and all four need our respect.

The four environments are:

1) the environment of the self (our inner landscape – thoughts, feelings, moods etc.)

2) the environment of the body, those 60 trillion cells that conspire to give us life

3) the environment outside of ourselves – our families, relationships, communities and society…

4) the environment of the planet, the stage on which the drama of life is played out

 

In this item we are inviting you to play your part in preventing the planet from drowning in plastic.  If we don’t act to change this, we too will drown.  If we support and respect the planet, the planet will support and respect us.

 

Here are some facts about plastic…

 

Plastic never goes away.

Plastic is a durable material made to last forever, yet illogically, 33 percent of it is used once and then thrown away. Plastic cannot biodegrade; it breaks down into smaller and smaller pieces.

 

Plastic poisons our food chain.

Even plankton, the tiniest creatures in our oceans and waterways, are eating microplastics and absorbing their toxins. The substance displaces nutritive algae that creatures up the food chain require.

 

Plastic affects human health.

Chemicals leached by plastics are in the blood and tissue of nearly all of us. Exposure to them is linked to cancers, birth defects, impaired immunity, endocrine disruption and other ailments.

 

Plastic threatens wildlife.

Entanglement, ingestion and habitat disruption all result from plastic ending up in the spaces where animals live. In our oceans alone, plastic debris outweighs zooplankton by a ratio of 36-to-1.

 

To find out more about how you can help in preventing the planet drowning in plastic, take a look at the work of The Plastic Pollution Coalition. 

 

 

 


Also see: Soil,Soul and Society