For years, I had a four-cup plastic measuring cup in my cupboard. It took up valuable space next to the cereal bowls. I never used it because it was plastic. I try to reduce my use of plastic as much as possible. Plastic items degrade so very tiny plastic pieces are in the food we eat, the air we breathe, and the water we drink – bottled or not.
More and more is being learned about how plastic particles are ubiquitous in the human body and in the environment. It’s only now being studied in relation to specific damages to the body.
Tracey Woodruff and University of California colleagues reviewed nearly 2,000 scientific studies about microplastics’ health risks in 2022. The available evidence from animal studies led them to warn that ingested microplastics appear to reduce fertility and may increase the risk of cancer, particularly in the digestive tract.
Finally, I donated the four-cup plastic measuring cup.
One day at the local co-op, I saw a four-cup glass measuring cup. I bought it even though items like that are usually more expensive at the co-op.
I love it. Just what you need to measure water for pasta, rice, quinoa, oatmeal, and more.
Since I took the Dean Ornish heart health program, I’m eating a lot of steel cut oats. It takes five cups of water to cook one cup of the oats. It’s so easy to measure the water when you have a four-cup glass measuring cup.
I’ve had a two-cup glass measuring cup for years, too. It’s a necessary staple, but you need a four-cup glass measuring cup, too. It saves times to measure out the liquid once rather than twice.
As for reducing your use of plastic, it’s Plastic Free July.
It’s a global effort to help people reduce single-use plastic waste every day at home, work, school, and at local stores.
The organization sponsoring the action, the Plastic Free Foundation, asks people to choose to:
- Refuse single-use cups.
- Refuse single-use plastic bottles.
- Refuse plastic food wrap.
- Refuse plastic bags.
- Make a plastic free pledge.
We all need to get as much plastic as we can out of our lives for our health and the health of the environment.
