Ziploc Plastic Storage Bags | Fatal Conveniences™

They’re in your kids’ lunchboxes, your kitchen drawers, and probably in your refrigerator. Ziploc storage bags have been a part of American culture for decades. But those toxic plastic baggies are leaching harmful chemicals into your food - and killing marine life. Welcome to Fatal Conveniences™. The average American uses over 500 plastic storage baggies a year. Plastic baggies are so much a part of our everyday life that we don’t even blink an eye at that number. But if you think about the consequences of that number, it brings it into perspective. We’re killing seabirds, sea turtles, fish, whales, dolphins - for what? For convenience? I don’t know about you, but that’s not ok with me. And it’s not just wildlife that Ziploc and other plastic storage bags are affecting. Those little baggies are full of BPA, a toxic chemical that seeps into your food and your body. BPA mimics estrogen in your bloodstream, causing countless health problems. Remember, the more flexible and squishy a plastic is, the more BPA it contains. Sure, some of these companies say they’re no longer using BPA. But they’re using similar chemicals that the FDA doesn’t yet regulate. It’s so easy to quit using plastic baggies like Ziploc, guys. There are so many safer, environmentally-friendly options out there. Sure, you may have to change your routine a bit, but it’s worth it. I promise. Will you commit to giving up plastic storage bags with me? I know you can do it! SEGMENT BREAKDOWN: [00:01:55] A brief history of plastic storage bags [00:03:48] Why you should care [00:04:50] BPA-free isn’t necessarily better [00:07:45] What plastic does to your hormones [00:09:18] Plastic and marine life [00:13:00] How to wean yourself off of Ziploc baggies DIVE DEEPER: Info on recycling plastic baggies Microplastics in Seafood Plastic pollution in marine environments BPA Levels in Humans Lunch Skins Bees Wraps Full Circle Home Listen to EP#116 How Farmlink is Turning Food Waste into Food Security | Aidan Reilly Episode Transcript [00:00:00] Fatal Convenience Intro Darin: It’s that time of the week for another fatal convenience. This is a bite-size segment that addresses some of society’s fatal conveniences and the steps you can take to avoid becoming a victim of them. I define fatal conveniences as the things we may be doing because the world we live in makes us believe we have to, tap water, shampoo, sunglasses, food. I dive into the hidden truths behind some of our everyday choices that could not only be harming us but even killing us, so let’s dive in. [00:00:41] Fatal Convenience - Ziploc Plastic Storage Bags Darin: Hey, everybody, welcome to the show. This is another installment of Fatal Conveniences to liberate you, to release you from the grips of things that you may not know about, or that you’re denying exists that’s affecting you. This one, obviously, I’ve talked a lot about plastic and we know that plastic and single-use plastic is detrimental in many different ways. I’m gonna zero in on this one. And this fatal convenience is Ziploc storage bags. The convenience of this is so convenient. Man, grabbing a Ziploc storage bag with a little zipper to seal your food and everything. It seems like such a great idea if it wasn’t plastic, if it didn’t have Bisphenol A, negative effects on our hormonal system, negative effects in that huge degree on our environment. [00:01:55] A brief history of plastic storage bags Darin: So a little history, Steven Ausnit was the original developer of Ziploc in 1954. Then his father, Max, and his uncle Edgar purchased the rights of the original plastic zipper designed by a Danish inventor named Borge Madsen, who had no particular application in mind for this plastic type zipper. So they bought it for him. They formed a company called Flexigrip to manufacture the zipper, which used a plastic slider to seal two interlocking grooves together.