On the Mission

Monday, April 1st, 2024

On the Mission with Amy Cadora, Chief Mission Officer

Join Amy’s Facebook Live Earth Month Kickoff, today, April 1, 5:30 p.m. CT

Happy Earth Month!

We couldn’t have picked a better time to launch our inaugural On the Mission section in Norwex News. Every month, we’ll be providing you with important information designed to:

  • Ignite your passion and belief in our Mission
  • Keep you up to date on harmful chemical challenges and solutions
  • Provide Mission-related content to support your business and help spread the word about chemicals of concern

This month’s focus: Planet vs Plastics, the theme for Earth Day 2024

The goal? To not only reduce the production of plastic, but our reliance on it. It’s the ideal opportunity to share insight on this timely topic, including the many solutions Norwex offers. Earth Day party, anyone?

The problem: Plastic pollution is chemical pollution  

Did you know that plastic pollution is really two issues? The first impacts our health; the second, the health of our planet.

Plastics and Human Health

  • When plastic products – which contain chemical additives such as flame retardants, UV stabilizers and colorants – break down in our oceans, these chemical additives can leach into surrounding waters.1
  • Once in the marine environment, plastics can also absorb chemical pollutants from surrounding waters and transport them great distances as they move around with ocean currents. When marine life eats plastic, these chemical pollutants can leach into their stomachs, causing toxic effects. Ultimately, when we eat these affected fish, it increases our exposure.1
  • Plastic chemicals can be detrimental our health. Because many of the chemicals in plastics are known endocrine disruptors, research suggests that human exposure could cause health impacts including hormonal imbalances, reproductive problems like infertility and even cancer. Among the dozens of examples, the phthalate DEHP is often added to plastic goods like shower curtains and garden hoses to make them more flexible – but was also found to be a probable human carcinogen by the US Environmental Protection Agency.2

Plastics and Planet Health

  • Of the 300 million tons of plastic produced annually worldwide, half is used for single-use items – nearly equivalent to the weight of the entire human population.2
  • 91 percent of all plastic is never recycled. Instead, it ends up in landfills or in the environment. Single-use plastics in particular – especially small items like straws, bags, and cutlery – are traditionally hard to recycle because they fall into the crevices of recycling machinery and therefore are often not accepted by recycling centers.2
  • Many plastics, which take from 450 to 1,000 years to biodegrade, cannot be recycled at all.3
  • Plastic is found in the guts of more than 90% of seabirds, the stomachs of over half of the world’s sea turtles, and is tangling and choking whales, sharks and other marine mammals.3
  • Last year, more than 500 billion plastic bags – or one million bags per minute – were produced worldwide. The sad fact is, the bags themselves have a working life of a few minutes, but an afterlife of centuries.

Small changes = big impact

Cleanup of plastic pollution is also cleanup of chemical pollution! Simple swaps can benefit both our health and the planet.

Avoid single-use plastics like plastic cutlery and straws that come with takeout foods. Or how about cooking at home more? You’ll save money and plastic.

Norwex solutions:

Forego single-use plastic and paper bags in the grocery – and all retail stores where you shop.

Norwex solutions:

Store leftovers more sustainably.

Norwex solutions:

Did you know?

Fact: Plastic cutting boards contain tiny, microscopic plastic pieces that can get into your food.
Swap: Norwex eco-friendly Cutting Boards.

Fact: In North America, 900 million empty plastic laundry jugs are thrown out every year.
Swap: Eco-Wash Laundry Detergent Strips. Bonus: They come packaged in a recyclable paper sleeve.

1 Source: Ocean Conservancy
2 Single-Use Plastics 101 (nrdc.org)
3 End Plastic Addiction | Turtle Island Restoration Network (seaturtles.org)

View all the content from this month’s Norwex News here.