Hidden Plastic In Everyday Life – 33 Things That Will Surprise You

Hidden plastic in everyday life? Are there things in our day-to-day where the plastic gets stuck without us noticing? Yes, unfortunately, these articles exist. And one of them is probably lurking in your apartment if you’re not yet 100%.

In this article, I want to introduce you to 33 everyday things that few know are hidden in plastic. The food court in particular will surprise you!

• Household Products
• Grocery
• Cosmetics
• Other Products
• Conclusion

THE HIDDEN PLASTIC IN EVERYDAY GOODS

Yes, if you take a closer look, you will also find plastic in common household and household products that many they would not have waited there. The following articles are very good examples that even very common everyday objects from the plastic category mentioned above are hidden:

Baking paper:

Why should baking paper contain plastic? Very simple: so that it does not stick to the grill or the baking tray. The common baking paper does not deserve the term “paper” in its name. This mess also ensures that the baking paper ends up mostly in waste paper and not residual waste. You can learn more about proper waste separation in the separate article.

Crayons and Pencils:

Yes, plastic is also hidden in classic wood chalk or ordinary pencils. Pencil leads are only made unbreakable through a thin layer of plastic. These implantable pins are a great alternative.

Cleaning Agents:

When it comes to hidden plastic in everyday life, detergent shouldn’t be missing. On closer inspection, unfortunately, you will also find microplastics and so-called water-soluble polymers in them. Making detergent yourself is one of the few safe alternatives.

Detergents:

Unfortunately, most chemical detergents made from plastic bottles often contain plastic in the form of liquid plastics (cross polymers). The microplastic is designed to remove dirt by friction, especially in the case of intensive cleaners for stubborn dirt. For example, in window cleaners.

Cushions:

Almost all common sofa cushions today contain a certain amount of plastic. Whether filled with polyurethane or zippered, it is a pillowcase.

Glitter:

What is mainly used for decorative purposes and looks so inconspicuous, of course, is not a natural material. The gloss is made of pure plastic or plastic-coated aluminium.

Cigarette Filter:

Unfortunately, cigarettes not only contain harmful substances but there is also plastic hidden in the filter. Even if the filters are often made from bioplastics, they don’t degrade quickly enough. And yet, 10 billion cigarettes end up in the environment around the world every day.

Tampons:

Since plastic is also hidden in classic tampons, the plastic can also enter your own body. Because in addition to the tampon tape, the tampon liner itself is made of plastic.

Textiles:

Today we find polyacrylics, polyamides, polyurethanes, polyester, and many other plastics in ordinary clothing. There is also plastic in our clothing, and this can be read beautifully on the label. Since the sewing thread used is also made from plastic, every garment today has a small amount of plastic. Paying attention to sustainable fashion is a very good alternative.

Toilet paper:

Almost all toilet paper is packaged in plastic. But the fact that there is plastic residue on the paper may surprise you, right?

Even if we believe that we can master our lives more or less without plastic, we are still a long way from reaching our goal. But we are definitely on the right track. By the way, this article was created in great collaboration with the FLUSTIX Plasticfree label. The seal helps identify 100% plastic-free products at first glance.

PLASTIC HOUSING IN FOODS

It is not bad enough that we find plastic hidden in everyday things like cosmetics or textiles. Plastic is also hidden in many foods, which is exactly where it can be seen in the following summary:

Chewing gum:

Oh yeah, you read that right. To ensure that chewing gum is as flexible as you know it, the chewing mass of ordinary chewing gum consists of polymers, that is, plastics. You can learn more about this in the article Plastic in chewing gum.

Coffee Filters:

Many coffee and tea drinkers think that filters and bags are made of biodegradable material. However, these are provided with plastic to make them more resistant to tearing. This is why coffee filters and tea bags are sadly part of the overview of hidden plastic in everyday life.

Beer:

Brewmasters use the hard-to-pronounce plastic polyvinylpolypyrrolidone in the production process; Residues have already been detected in the beer. Plastic is used to keep the beer clear as long as possible.

Food cans:

It could be assumed that a food can is simply made of sheet metal or aluminium. Unfortunately, the plastic is also hidden here in the form of the inner lining of the cans so that the metal is not attacked.

Sausage, Cheese, Chocolate, etc.: It’s amazing that plastic is even hidden in finished hot dogs and other everyday foods, right? Unfortunately, this is the truth and is even allowed by law. According to the EU plastics regulation, a maximum of 10 mg of plastic packaging can be transferred to food.

TetraPak:

Unfortunately, many people dispose of a classic TetraPak in the paper trash and not in the yellow bag. Besides paper, it also contains aluminium and some thin plastic coatings.

Glass Bottle Caps: Unfortunately, plastic is also hidden in conventional glass bottle caps.

Cheese and Sausage Paper: You are sadly wrong even though you think  “sausage paper” is made of paper. Because it has a thin layer of plastic that serves as a freshness protector and separating agent for food, the same applies to baked goods and cheese paper. The cheese is now also packed in paper containers in many supermarkets, but these also have a plastic coating to keep them fresh longer.

Mineral water: In fact, microplastics were found in 80% of the mineral waters analysed. One more reason to give preference to the reusable sprue of the Zero Waste basic equipment.

Frozen Packages: You are fooling me, but unfortunately, the cardboard packages for frozen fish sticks or spinach contain a plastic coating. So it’s not just about cardboard, and it’s not just about plastic. This packaging is a composite pack and, unfortunately, makes plastic recycling difficult.

Table salt: Do you also like to use table salt? So it is certainly not uninteresting to you that almost 90% of all table salts tested contain hidden plastic.

Although plastic, on the one hand, helps our food last longer, on the other hand, it ensures that we separate our garbage in the wrong way. Because many just don’t know that there is plastic hidden in sausage paper or Terpak’s. Also, there is plastic packaging waste in many food maniacs that such a thing is allowed.

THE PLASTIC IS HIDDEN IN COSMETICS

You may already know that microplastics are hidden in cosmetics because the subject is discussed a lot and is in the media over and over again. Small plastics are hidden in the following cosmetic products:

Toothpaste: Yes, that’s true for one thing; unfortunately, packaging creates plastic waste, many tubes of toothpaste also contain microplastics in actual toothpaste. Find out how to make your natural toothpaste in a separate article.

Lipsticks: Yes, lipsticks can also hide plastic components, which by the way, also applies to eyeshadow and powder. The cheap plastic acts as a kind of binder in this case.

Mascara: In fact, almost all masks are made of tiny microplastic components. The alternative is to make the mask yourself, of course.

Nail polish: If we talk about hidden plastic in everyday life, we must also mention nail polish. The plastic makes the paint thicker and stronger. The plastic-free alternative? Currently, only the complete renunciation of nail polish, in the sense of the Zerowaste lifestyle.

Peels: What you feel on your skin with classic peels is mainly plastic. The plastic is hidden in the peels to perform the shredding function on the skin. 

Wet Wipes: There has to be a reason why wet wipes don’t tear as quickly as traditional wet paper towels. Unfortunately, this is often since towels are not made from cellulose but rather from a blend of polyester and viscose. Then there is the plastic packaging. 

Sunscreen: Generally contains liquid polymers. The hidden plastic in the sunscreen is supposed to provide shine and flexibility. The alternative is: make your sunscreen. 

Shower Gels and Shampoos: It’s amazing how many popular brands of shower gels and shampoos contain plastics in the form of microplastics. The alternative is the natural Aleppo soap in one piece. 

Pretty creepy, huh? On the one hand, it is even allowed to hide plastic in such everyday cosmetic products in Germany. On the other hand, we can hardly see it without specialised, knowledge, even if we wanted to. So what can you basically do to check for hidden plastic in it before you buy a product? I recommend the Code Check app, which you can use to simply scan a product’s barcode and receive an instant response.

WHERE IS THE PLASTIC HIDDEN?

There are a few things you can find hidden plastic in that I couldn’t assign to any of the categories above. Here I present them to you because they definitely belong on the list of hidden plastics in everyday life:

Glue: Almost all conventional glues are made of plastic, regardless of whether it is tape, a tube, or a glue stick.

Labels: Even if you buy fruits and vegetables in bulk, it is often not a plastic-free purchase. Because the little stickers are usually stuck on apples, bananas, and other loose foods, which are made of plastic or at least have a plastic adhesive.

Receipt: When you receive a receipt at the register, it is usually thermal paper, which in turn has a plastic coating and therefore must be disposed of with residual waste. In the article Application for digital receipts, I present a project that will change this garbage problem.

Cardboard boxes: Even a cardboard box does not have to be made 100% of paper. A finished box often only holds together because it was glued together with plastic glue. Furthermore, plastic residues from the manufacturing process can often still be detected, especially in the case of cardboard boxes made from recycled paper.

WE FOUND HIDDEN PLASTICS IN THE PRINCIPLE EVERYWHERE

As you may have noticed in this article, we, unfortunately, find plastic in almost every object these days. Either as a binder, protection against coolness, for better adhesion, or simply to make things more resistant to tears.

Even if we think we have banned plastic from our lives, it reappears somewhere, mostly invisibly. Therefore, always view plastic-free life as a long-term goal to always stay motivated. It will certainly take some time to achieve this, but the alternatives are in advance and will ensure that the plastic in our day-to-day is gradually reduced until we finally replace it. Clean your mouth.