Writer Susan Freinkel began wondering how much plastic passed through her life. So she conducted a one-day experiment, recording each plastic-containing item she came in contact with. The tally: 196.

 

They ranged from the obvious to the unnoticed, from the dashboard in her car to the dime-sized stickers she had to peel off her apples. The next day, she reversed the experiment, tracking everything she touched that wasn’t made of plastic. Total: 102.

 

Freinkel’s world, she realized, was more plastic than not. Yours probably is, too.The experiment started Freinkel on a plastic odyssey, learning all she could about its imprint on our economy, lives and health.

 

The resulting book, Plastic: A Toxic Love Story, appears at a time of rising anxiety over plastic’s impact. In mid-April, Congress renewed efforts to modernize a 35-year old law addressing chemical safety that’s widely regarded as toothless and ineffective.

 

Freinkel traces the reversal of plastic’s reputation from “better than nature” to a chronic health concern. She reminds us of plastic’s very real achievements while exploring our options to reduce the health and environmental toll of living in a plasticized world. These images help tell that story…