Airborne plastic levels shock researchers (chronic DEHP/DiNP/DEHT exposure)

Also a domestic plastic tax - by making plastic less cheap (perhaps have it go up 10% every year in perpetuity) eventually there will be incentives to find natural alternatives (paper, bamboo, woods, etc).

It makes no sense to me to claim the most productive country in all of history, with our AI and everything, couldn't replace plastic. It's the same thing people said about oil 50 years ago.

Yes, things would be more expensive, but we have a choice, Health or Plastic. If you factor in the cost of healthcare, then the extra expense may be a wash. It is just a matter of who pays.

The most pressing example is fast fashion. The clothes are too cheap, incentivising use-and-bin behavior, and they also don't last because they're cheap synthetics. Cotton is relatively more expensive, but at the very least lasts longer. The race to the bottom must be halted.

- Get serious about plastic recycling, maybe even a cash deposit scheme like glass bottles or aluminium cans in some places.

- Build/grow stuff closer to where it is sold, instead of halfway across the world, so less plastic (and fuel) is needed in transport both for finished products and supplies. This has the added benefit of introducing supply chain resilience, decreasing foreign dependence, and supporting local economies.

- Enable local food markets and street food vendors. Get rid of laws that make it difficult for food trucks or food streeth vendors to operate. Make operating a restaurant and/or selling food cheap and easy. Have your food JIT instead of needing to store it using plastic. Milk used to be delivered and consumed without plastic involved at all.

- Go back to using wood or metal instead of plastic in many items. This will make them stronger and more durable.

- Use paper or wood instead of plastic. Bring back paper grocery bags. Wood is renewable, wood products are biodegradable.

For example, I saw here on HN that micro-plastics were found in Human's brains. Also we have see a rise in Dementia and Alzheimers over the past decades. Again a bit of a coincidence to me, but makes you wonder.

Personally I think plastics is not the only cause, but I think it is one more thing to tack on to the environmental damage we have cased over the decades. And that damage is now getting to the point that have real health consequences, especially to the young.