What does eco-healthy mean?
We love a certain chartreuse frog that plays the banjo in the swamp, but he’s misled you about something: It IS easy to be green! Advertisers want you to think otherwise, but many times the greener, healthier option is less expensive too.
You’re here because you are looking for eco-healthy tips, but what does that term even mean? A good rule of them for almost any product in our lives: if it’s bad for the earth, it’s probably bad for our health too. And that includes plastic!
Here’s a tip to make you smarter: Don’t microwave your food in plastic. Use ceramic, wax paper, plain paper towels or microwave-safe glass instead. Don’t you feel smarter already?
Here are Oregon Environmental Council’s top 10 reasons not to microwave in plastic:
1) Not all ideas from the 80’s were smart. New Coke? Lawn darts? Shoulder pads?
2) Yogurt tubs, plastic film and foam cups are definitely not safe to microwave, as you’ll witness by that plastic smell, or taste, or puddle of melted plastic goo.
3) Even if you can’t smell, taste or see the difference, hot plastic can release stray molecules into food. That’s just creepy.
4) Fatty foods, like cheese on pizza, are likely to collect more of those stray molecules.
5) We know that some plastics release BPA or phthalates, toxic chemicals known to interfere with fertility, children’s brain development and other hormone-related health.
6) We know that there’s a ton of different plastics, with many different chemicals—some safe, some not safe, some untested. Instead of becoming a plastics expert, why not avoid them all? Glass and ceramics are easy to access, clean and reuse!
7) “Microwave safe” plastic doesn’t release chemicals—as long as it isn’t scratched or worn. All it takes is a fork scratch across the bottom to potentially release molecules into your food.
8) Small amounts of chemicals, when you eat them day after day, become a long-term exposure.
9) People who make billions on plastics say it’s perfectly safe. Toxicologists, health scientists and food packaging experts are not so sure. Who do you believe?
10) There’s a lot of pollution you can’t avoid, but here’s one you can. Don’t microwave in plastic. It’s that simple.
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