Saying No To Plastic

**Written on December 17, 2012**

I've decided that from now on I will only buy wood toys, for my future children and as gifts for the children in my family. I was shopping for my mom's co-worker's nephews (think personal shopper) today and realized how accesible high quality wood toys are. That's when I made my decision.

On my journey to eat less processed food, using more chemical free products, and taking the ecosystem and earth into consideration; I found this was a natural step. I am refusing to fill landfills with items that are nearly impossible to biodegrade and burden our children with this mess.

I will limit the amount of bottled drinks I consume and use a reusable bottle when I need to carry fluids on the go. Think about it - if I consume two bottles of water a day every day for one year, thats 730 plastic bottles per year, for only one person! What about your family of five? Two bottles per day for a year; 3,650 plastic bottles that will take 450 years each to biodegrade.

Here's what fueled my decision:
- It's takes the average plastic water bottle four hundred and fifty years to biodegrade and over 90% of bottles aren't recycled. Even when you throw that plastic bottle into your recycle bin, it can only be recycled twice.
- Bottles made with Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET) will never biodegrade.

Yes, I know I'm using plastic bottles as an example when I'm refusing to buy plastic toys. But think of how thin that bottle is, in comparison to how thick the plastic on that toy is. 

The complete biodegradation of the average household wooden chair takes thirteen years. Paint, wood treatment, and landfill conditions are all factors in how long it takes for natural resources to decompose. Seeing as how wood toys are a lot smaller than furniture, the time it takes for them to biodegrade would be less. 

Think about land fills...
How many are there? What's in them? Where are they?

According to this site, there are 3,091 active landfills in the United States. They contain things like paper products, textiles, and wood scraps - along with things like disposable diapers, plastic and styrofoam. Disposable diapers and plastic take 450+ years to biodegrade, whereas styrofoam exists forever and is not capable of breaking down into organic matter.

I don't have children yet, but when I make these decisions I think of them. I think about how disgusting their earth will be if we continue on the track we're on. How filthy their world will be if God forbid, it get's worse. I think about Baby L, who won't turn 18 until August 14, 2030. What will our world look like then? I think about J's young cousins and my best friend's son. I want their world to be clean, safe, and free of toxic chemicals.
All biodegradation information is taken from here.