In the documentary Blue Vinyl a young woman is worried about her parents' decision to pull the wooden boards off the house and put blue vinyl on instead. They live on Long Island, New York, and have as so many Americans sturdy, cheap vinyl around their house and garage. Vinyl, aka PVC, is a very common plastic that is hazardous in its production and recycling as toxic substances are needed and released, including dioxin. The woman meets lots of people, all kinds of experts, around the country, from the representatives of the Vinyl Institute, oil refinery and plastic producers to scientists and people living in homes made out of "alternative" materials. The people from the Vinyl Institute want to make her belief that the biggest ingredient in the material is similar to table salt and that's found in our bodies anyway because we can't live without it. (I am always amazed by the stubbornness that industry representatives show when they defend their product, no matter how bad the product is for health and environment.)
As in most other documentaries where an inquisitive, concerned citizen wants to get a closer look industry will keep its doors closed. The woman was not allowed to visit a petro-chemical factory. She moves on to investigate other outside wall finishes but none satisfies her parents. The material does not blend in with the neighbourhood, the (natural) colour is not great, the price is not right. A young man that helps her convince her parents to get rid of the vinyl lives himself in a house made of straw, covered with a mixture of lime, sand and a bit of concrete which creates an "adobe finish" that the mother finds unacceptable. Meanwhile he refuses to stay at the house due to the vinyl and sleeps in a tent in the garden. In the end the woman has the house recovered in reclaimed wood - ignoring the by far biggest decision point in the issue: the price. It does cost her dearly but she's happy to have done the step towards a better world ... without vinyl.
Her parents soon sell the house and "downsize" (from a bungalow) to a townhouse in a brandnew retirement park where every single building is covered in vinyl.
At one point she went to see a Habitat for Humanity project where within a couple of days 25 houses for low-income families are erected. Each of these simple houses can be put together from single parts within a few hours. Sponsored by the Vinyl Institute, the houses are completely made of vinyl, from the flooring to the walls, the window frames, the ceilings, everything is made from vinyl. Of course the woman wanted to talk with the people involved about the health hazards, inform and warn them possibly, but when she sees the crying-out-of-happiness families that are about to move in she does not do it.
This morning then my husband asked if I thought it would be possible to get rid of ALL the plastic in our household. I said no straight away. Plastic is everywhere. It often could be replaced: storage containers, bowls, pitchers, soap dish, toys, hangers, coat hooks, blinds, plant pots, shoe rack, toilet seat, shower curtain, ... but a tooth brush without plastic? And what about the parts on the stroller, the radio, kitchen appliances like fridge and kettle, ... and what about all the packaging? If I did not want any plastic I would have to take lots of glass or ceramic containers to a store that sells everything in bulk from soap & hair shampoo to dishwashing liquid to all kinds of dry foods, meats, fish and drinks. That would be tough, not only to find that store (although the Earth General Store would score high here, mind you, they still use the bulk plastic containers) but to carry the containers around, without breaking them. Toys, I have been looking for wood but there's also tin toys, are somwhat harder to find but it's not impossible. Last but not least, comparing prices for all the named items it becomes very obvious that wood, tin & co. cost way more than plastics. As oil gets more expensive this might slowly change though ... Turning my head I just looked at our book shelves ... well, book covers are also coated in something plastic-like so they'd have to go too. And the laptop I'm writing on of course. Not too sure if my husband still wanted to get rid of plastic once it comes to his laptop.
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