Saturday, Mar 7

Welcome to Your Daily Dot where Dot will share tips, advice, and stories on how we can make our world better.

New Jersey recently passed a law aimed at reducing plastic waste that stipulates that restaurants can’t hand out plastic cutlery or condiment packages unless customers request them. 

A positive step for sure, but just part of what accounts for the estimated 42 million tons of plastic waste each year in the U.S. What can we do? Avoid purchasing plastic and repurpose what we already have. This week, Dot helps a reader wondering what to do with old plastic bowls. 

Dear Dot,

I’ve been something of a nomad the past few years but just settled a few states away from home. I was going through house stuff I’ve had packed away and found hard plastic mixing bowls. I know now what I didn’t know when I packed them up — that microplastics get into our food and therefore our bodies. My question(s): Do I just keep using them? Donate them? I think it’s wrong to poison someone else. Do I throw them out? Or do I just leave them in my top cabinet?

— Britt

Dear Britt,

As Dot noted in a previous column, in response to a reader wondering how he might keep microplastics at bay in his body, it’s shocking just how ubiquitous the material has become in a relatively short time. After all, although scientists discovered plastic in the late 19th century, it wasn’t until after the Second World War that it became widely used in consumer products. And while marine biologists first noticed plastics in the bellies of albatrosses in the 1960s, the term “microplastics” didn’t enter our vernacular until 2004. Today? Good luck avoiding both the term and what it describes. 

All of which is to say, Britt, that while avoiding plastics that come into contact with food is a smart strategy, it’s akin to a finger in a dike. 

So let me answer your first question: Yes, keep using your bowls, though not for food. 

What can Britt do? Keep reading.

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