Its no secret that the world we live in today has been flooded with a never before known vast amount of synthetic chemicals. The true impact of this is yet to be determined. The worst of these chemicals are classified as ‘Hazardous Waste’.
Hazardous waste generation:
Defined as waste that poses substantial or potential threats to public health and/or the environment because it is toxic, infectious, radioactive, or flammable.
- In just one generation (25 years) the production of man-made chemicals has increased by 40,000% from 1 million to 400 million tons
- 60kg of hazardous waste is generated a year for every single person in the world
- Up to 700 man-made chemicals have been found in humans that are not supposed to be there
- The worst chemicals interfere with our hormone system and cause cancer, reproductive problems, birth defects and DNA modification
- Currently 7.8 percent of men are infertile due to hazardous chemicals
- During breast feeding Women ‘off-load’ these hazardous chemicals to their babies
- Over 280 million tons of hazardous waste has already been thrown out in 2022 alone (YTD: 13/09/22)
Where does hazardous waste come from?
These are the 5 biggest sectors responsible for hazardous waste generation:
- Chemical manufacturing
- Manufacturing of petroleum and coal products
- Waste treatment and disposal
- Manufacturing of agricultural chemicals such as pesticides, fertilizer
- Manufacturing of iron and steel
Manufacturing of agricultural chemicals such as pesticides, fertilizer
As this sector is most relevant to Juice on the Move we shall direct our attention here, as always, we do recommend further research on your part.
Chemicals are frequently used during non-organic farming and food production. These are known as “agriculture compounds” and include:
- Fertilisers
- Pesticides
- Antibiotics and other medicines for animals
- Growth hormones
How these chemicals effect you…
It has already been proven and accepted that residue from these chemicals will remain on and in food products, eventually being consumed by us humans. In New Zealand the Ministry of Primary Industry (MPI) is tasked with setting maximum residue levels (MRLs), these levels determine how much of a certain chemical is allowed in our food. According to MPI these levels are set well below the level that would harm somebody’s health. The problem with this statement is that nobody really knows how these chemicals effect our systems over long periods of time, as most of the chemicals have never before been a part of human’s diets, really we are the test dummies.
Do you want to opt out of being a ‘test dummy’?
The best way to reduce your intake of hazardous chemicals is to eat food that has been grown, made and produced without the use of such chemicals. Its best to stick to foods that have been grown under natural conditions with only natural aids, such as food produced in the organic industry.
Eating organic will reduce your intake of hazardous chemicals
Organic agriculture is all about minimising the use of external inputs and excluding the use of synthetic fertilisers, pesticides, antibiotics, growth promotions, genetic modification, and irradiation. The inputs that are used in organic agriculture must be derived from nature rather than man-made e.g. manure, compost, etc.
One of the largest research efforts on the organic sector, conducted by an international team of experts led by Newcastle University in 2014 found that:
- Organic fruits and vegetable contain as much as 70% more antioxidants (depending on the type of antioxidant)
- Organic crops are four times less likely to contain pesticide residues
- Conventional (non-organic) crops contained 50% higher cadmium levels (a toxic heavy metal known to cause kidney failure, bone softening and liver damage)
Let’s not forget
Organic agriculture and products are not some new ‘trendy’ thing, in fact the opposite is true, current ‘conventional’ non-organic products are the new thing. Humans have never before had the technological ability to synthetically alter natural processes as we do today. It was not that long ago where everything was ‘organic’, there simply was no other option.
We truly do not know the real effect of these chemicals we are now pumping into ourselves and our environment, the things we do know are not at all promising in fact they are very concerning.
We are not here to make your purchase decisions, but if we can educate even a little bit, we are taking it as a win!
Every dollar you spend casts a vote, are you voting for your future?
References
https://www.theworldcounts.com/challenges/planet-earth/waste/hazardous-waste-statistics
https://www.laweekly.com/study-organic-food-contains-way-more-antioxidants/