Day 125 - Back From Whence It Came

Sending Back Unwanted Plastic

I know I've mentioned doing this before, but I thought I'd make it all official with its very own post. This is a great idea that I totally stole from Beth at www.fakeplasticfish.com. She's chock full of great ideas about how to avoid plastic and the she doesn't seem to mind sharing them :-). Thanks, Beth!

Anyhow, sometimes people send you unsolicited plastic. Sometimes you inadvertently purchase it. However you got it, if it's not recyclable, think about sending it back. Beth does and now I'm going to do it too.

In fact, I already have. Twice this week.

The first items taken back were #6 plastic hangers. I was cleaning up the spare room, getting ready for company, when I found a whole stash of those white plastic hangers the kids pajamas came on. They're not something you can just separate while waiting in line at the store, because in their infinite wisdom, the manufacturer punches tags through the individual tops and bottoms, as well as the hanger. This results in a hanger that cannot be physically removed from the clothing until you get some free time and a set of garden shears.

There was a manufacturer name on the hangers, so I looked them up online and gave them a call. Turns out they manufacturer hangers for Target, Walmart and the like. They rely on the stores to return the hangers to them who, in turn, get the hangers back to the manufacturers for reuse. They went on to tell me that I could not ship the hangers back to them, but that any Walmart or Target store would be happy to take them back.

Turns out, it's actually TRUE! I went to Target this week, swung by the returns counter and the lady happily took my hangers in threw them in a huge bin with a bunch of other hangers. Don't you just love it when the circle of "use, return, reuse" actually works?!

The other plastic I got came from a very unlikely source: My new Wind-Farm Energy Supplier. Surprised? I was too. I was shocked to find in my Welcome Package a plastic film meant to be placed over a light switch that touts the advantages of switching your energy supplier to one who utilizes a renewable energy source. Yeah, hmmmmmmmm. I guess I'm having a lot of WTF moments this week. Anyhow, here's what I sent to them (along with the plastic film):


November 14, 2007

Kristy O’Hearne
Product and Operations Manger, Green Electricity
Pepco Energy Services
1300 North 17th Street, Suite 1600
Arlington, VA 22209

Dear Kristy:

Thank you very much for welcoming me to Pepco Energy Services! I am trying, like many Americans, to “go green” and look forward to obtaining my electricity from a renewable energy source!

I was disappointed, however, to see that you had sent a plastic film (PVC?) Switch Plate Cover with the welcome letter. As I’m sure you know, the production of plastic is a very polluting endeavor which releases a multitude of chemicals, including carcinogenic dioxins, into the atmosphere. It is also made from petroleum, a very limited, non-renewable resource.

I am therefore returning the plastic doo-dad to you for reuse. Please do not send me any additional plastics.

Thank you, Kristy! I look forward to helping fund the installation of more Pepco Wind Farms!

Regards,


Erin

Pepco Customer, Concerned Citizen and Avid Blogger
http://www.burbanmom.blogspot.com/


It's like I'm getting ballsier by the minute, isn't it folks?


Savings:

A dozen plastic hangers and one plastic film. In the course of a year, that's probably about 24 plastic hangers though. By the time my kids graduate high school and move out, I'll have saved over 400 #6 plastic hangers from the landfill!


Difficulty Level: 1 out of 5

These two items were pretty easy to return and the only cost to me was some time and a postage stamp. However, it might be more costly to send back other unwanted plastics, such as over-packaged stuff. Yet another reason to be diligent in my avoidance of packing nuts.

#185 - Don't Be Retarded

Avoiding the Flame-Retardant Pajamas

My apologies for the totally un-PC title, but it really does describe the change. The picture? Well, once I had a theme, I figured I'd keep it going. Besides, in the context of things, it's still funnier than showing the effects of toxic flame retardants on our environment or what melted plastic does to human skin.

According to an article from the Healthy Children Project, "Across the world, scientists are studying Polybrominated Diphenyl Ethers (PBDEs), the family of chemicals that act as flame retardants. The results of their studies are of great concern. They are finding extremely high levels of these neurotoxic, and potentially carcinogenic, chemicals in the bodies of humans and wildlife—levels far higher than those found even ten years ago."

"Animal studies have linked PBDEs to neurodevelopmental and behavioral deficits, thyroid hormone disruption, and possibly cancer. PBDEs are used more heavily in the U.S. and Canada than anywhere else in the world."

"PBDEs may impair the brain function and motor skills of children. All PBDEs disrupt thyroid hormone balance because the chemical structure of PBDEs closely resembles thyroid hormones. Thyroid hormone function is critical to proper brain development both in the womb and after birth. Newborn mice exposed to PBDEs experienced damage to their nervous systems, resulting in learning and motor deficits that worsened as the animals grew older. "

PBDEs are found in a number of household products, including flame-retardant children's pajamas. In fact, until the mid-nineties, all children's sleepwear was required by the US Federal Government to be flame-retardant. This requirement, originally enacted in the 70's, was designed to protect kids, since most pj's are made from polyester. Get the connection? Polyester is plastic. Plastic melts when it gets heated and could melt to the skin of a child. Not a pretty thought. (Now see why I chose the owl picture?)

But in the early nineties, the feds realized the hazards of PBDEs and amended the laws to allow the sale of non-PBDE treated pjs. So nowadays you have a choice. You can select baggy-style, poly-blend, flame-retardant pajamas, or bound-to-shrink-a-lot, skin-tight, hooker-lookin' pj's. Opt for the skin-tight ones.

And even though I strongly advocate buying used clothing or accepting hand-me-downs, this is definitely an exception to that rule. If you can't get pre-owned, non-flame-retardant jammies, then by all means, go hit Target and get the kids some stylin' new body-hugging sleepwear. Just be sure to return those #6 hangers they're sold on.

Now, you're thinking, "well that's wonderful that you're saving your kids from inhaling toxic chemicals, but what does that have to do with saving the environment?" To which I say "Get off my ass already, I'm getting to that.".

Scientists have now found PBDEs in Arctic polar bears. What the hell those bears were doing wearing baggy, flame-retardant pajamas, I'll never know. I mean, for Peter, Paul and Mary's sake, how often do polar bears die in house fires?!?!?!?! COME ON!

Well, apparently, they aren't. It's just that this nasty shit stays around for a long time and once it off-gases into the atmosphere, it floats around all over the globe. And the bad news is, it's not just in our jammies, it's in our furniture, computers, carpets, mattresses, draperies, etc. Basically, any household plastic or foam item that you wouldn't want bursting into flames during a fire.

There is a ton of information out there, if you want to take steps to reduce your exposure to PBDEs. I for one, am going to start with the very small step of avoiding them in my kids' pjs. Baby steps. Baby, footed-pajama steps.