Parenting in the Plasticine
A
FEW MONTHS AGO, I got a midday text from my
son’s daycare. He had fallen off a rocking horse
and bitten his tongue. It was a pretty
run-of-the-mill injury for an 18-month-old, but
they wanted to give me a heads-up ahead of
pick-up that day; apparently there had been a
fair amount of blood. When I went to gather him
after work, he greeted me with a big grin, and a
slightly bloody teether in his mouth. I was a
little alarmed that his tongue was still
bleeding. But I was more concerned about the
teether. His teachers had lovingly given it to
him to soothe his wound. But it was plastic, and
the moment I saw it, I wanted to pluck it out of
his mouth.
In
many ways, this is a silly story. My son comes
into contact with plastics every day of his
life, in daycare as well as in our home. A few
extra minutes with a teether really wasn’t a big
deal. But the moment encapsulates the kind of
anxiety I often face as a mom. I worry about the
chemicals in my kids’ shampoo, the contaminants
in the water they drink, the exhaust fumes from
cars and the particulate pollution from
wildfires that their tiny lungs inhale. But it’s
plastic that bothers me more than anything else.
I constantly worry about all the plastic my two
children come in contact with — from the Legos
they dump across our floors, to the stuffed
animals they cuddle, to the packaging on the
foods they eat — and how I might reduce it.
Of
course, anxiety is a normal part of parenting.
We worry endlessly over the costs of childcare,
the nutritional benefits of foods, the best
sleep habits, and of course choking hazards,
tripping hazards — and tongue-biting
hazards.
To
me, though, the threat plastic poses is
different. The level to which plastic now
infiltrates our lives and environments is
unprecedented. And the health threats associated
with plastic are, too.
Journal Managing Editor Zoe
Loftus-Farren navigates plastic exposure and
eco-anxiety as a parent in this feature from our
summer print issue.
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