Dumpster dive | February 18, 2025

Garbage is diverse; diversity is not garbage. Photo by Jan van der Wolf on Pexels

• Mark your calendars: February 28 is National Economic Blackout Day, a way for Americans to send a message by boycotting major retailers that have rolled back their diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives following the executive order against DEI programs. Retailers include Amazon, Walmart, BestBuy, and Target, along with fast food chains and gas stations. [Newsweek]

  
  

• Don't stop with DEI or February 28. Take an even stronger stance by diverting your spending altogether or as much as possible from any company with poor environmental, social, and governance ratings, easily accessible through the MSCI ESG Ratings & Climate Search Tool.

  
  

• Google recently tossed Black History Month, Women's History Month, Hispanic Heritage Month, Pride Month, Jewish American Heritage Month, and Holocaust Remembrance Day from its calendar, stating that keeping up with these cultural events was "too difficult." I don't understand how the tech giant could be so easily defeated by a calendar while being a world leader in the complex, dynamic areas of online advertising, data collection, online search, video sharing, email, web browsers, web mapping, mobile operating systems, cloud storage, cloud computing, quantum computing, artificial intelligence, and self-driving cars. [New York Times]

  
  

• Plastic straws have become symbolic of unnecessary single-use waste and the plastic crisis, and as petty and ridiculous as an executive order against paper straws seems, the order is symbolic in its own right. Although it duly calls out that paper straws are more expensive than plastic, often wrapped in plastic, and often contain harmful chemicals (PFAS chemicals in particular), it sidesteps the issue of straws entirely and instead portends that single-use plastics will be favored over any efforts to address the plastic crisis. I'm reminded of Season 1, Episode 1 of Veep, where biodegradable cutlery in the White House creates friction with Big Oil.

  
  

• Adding to the plastic crisis, Trump's tariffs on steel and aluminum imports will likely make aluminum cans more expensive, driving production of single-use plastic bottles. Coca-Cola, the world's leading plastic producer, has already said as much. The tariffs also give them an excuse for once again failing to meet their sustainability goals. In late 2024, the company dropped its commitment to adopt 25% reusable packaging and dialed back its goal of 50% recycled materials in packaging by 2030, to 35% to 40% by 2035. [BBC]

  
  

• The Huffington Post answers the question, "Is it safe to keep using old plastic food containers?" In short, stick with plastics stamped with the numbers 2, 4, or 5, toss containers over 10 years old, stick to hand washing, and avoid anything abrasive. Regardless of these precautions, there's still a risk that leached plastic chemicals and flaked-off bits of microplastic will make their way into your food. I'll stick to glass and stainless steel because...

  
  

• A recent review of 7,000 studies says you should be worried about microplastics. Ways to limit your exposure include not heating food in plastic, vacuuming regularly, avoiding fluffy synthetic fabrics, and ventilating your home. [Inc.com]

  
  

• Another recent review found that common plastic chemicals are linked to hundreds of thousands of deaths worldwide, millions of cases of heart disease, and thousands of strokes. The primary chemicals include bisphenol A (BPA), di(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP), and polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs). BPA and DEHP are commonly used in food packaging (along with over a hundred BPA-like derivatives); PBDSs are flame retardants used in household goods. [NewScientist]

  
  

• Lastly, I hope you'll read this excellent editorial from Scientific American that asks, "Why aren't we losing our minds over the plastic in our brains?" Researchers estimate that our brains contain around 2-1/2 teaspoons of microplastic, attributed to chemistry, capitalism, and convenience culture.

The sugar equivalent of the 2-1/2 teaspoons of plastic in our brains. Photo by The Garbage Lady