'Understanding Stuff' Resource Booklet / Resource booklet on ...
Recoding3-Booklet
Transcript of Recoding3-Booklet
WILL YOU TREASURE ME?
YES !! WE WILL.
TODAYPAST
Though terms like "sustainability" and "biodegradability" were not even in our grandparents' lexicon, their stuffed animals were made of all-natural materials. The outsides were cotton, sheepskin, fur or felt, and the insides anything from chopped-up rags to wood shavings to kapok fiber. And when their loving owners had outgrown them, these toys obligingly turned to dust, or decomposed organically back into the Earth. No harm, no foul.
Those smiling lumps of soft, whiskery fun known as "plush toys," "stuffed animals," or "cuddly toys." But unfortunately, these are not the stuffed animals our grandparents loved.
Today's plush toys, in contrast, break all the rules about sustainability. Almost all are made 100% from polyester, which in turn comes from non-biodegradable, unsustainable, polluting oil. As with most elements of stuffed animal production, synthetic fibers and materials, such as polyfill, are increasingly common in stuffing used for toys.OUTER
COVERING
STUFFING
OUTER COVERING
All-natural materials
Synthetic fibre
Indoor Air Pollution
Polyester (1953), "wrinkle free" fabrics developed from xylene and ethylene.Polyester is the terminal product in a chain of very reactive and toxic precursors. Most are carcinogens; all are poisonous. And even if none of these chemicals remain entrapped in the final polyester structure (which they most likely do), the manufacturing process requires workers and our environment to be exposed to some or all of the chemicals shown in the flowchart above. There is no doubt that the manufacture of polyester is an environmen-tal and public health burdenthat we would be better off without.
Polyester fabric is soft, smooth, supple – yet still a plastic. It contributes to our body burden in ways that we are just beginning to understand. And because polyester is highly flammable, it is often treated with a flame retardant, increasing the toxic load. So if you think that youʼve lived this long being exposed to these chemicals and havenʼt had a problem, remember that the human body can only withstand so much toxic load - and that the endocrine disrupting chemicals which donʼt seem to bother you may be affecting generations to come.
Did you know there are little creatures that share your bed and live on your stuffed animals - and cause air pollution? They are tiny dust mites, invisible to the human eye. They like to eat dry flakes of skin, and their waste affects indoor air quality.
STUFFINGCutton
FeltDid you ever notice?
Chopped-up rags
Polyfill
polyester
Plain fiber
Synthetic fibre are TOXIC
Stop buying stuffed toys. Keep the air fresh indoor.
WHERE THE STUFFED TOYS ARE WHERE THE POLLUTION BROACAST FOMEWHERE YOUR CHILDREN IN DANGER
Your skin is the largest organ of elimination and absorption—what goes ON the skin goes IN the body;
WE ARE INVISABLE DANDERS
IS IT NOT WRONG TO WASH STUFFED TOYS FREQUANTLY
BUT...IT IS NOT AN EXCUSE FOR YOU TO CONTINUED BUYING STUFFED TOYS.
Most synthetic fabrics, from stuffed animals and bed linens, are treated with chemicals during and after processing. These chemicals not only leach into the environment, impacting groundwater, wildlife, air and soil, but they also may be absorbed or inhaled directly.
These pollutants can cause a range of health problems, from triggering allergic reactions and asthma to cancer and even death.
Toxic chemicals go into water.
Toxic chemicals go into groundwater and be absorted by soil
Wash stuffed toys will cause water pollution.
WILDLIFE
SOIL
PLANTS
Stop b
uying
stuffe
d toys
Keep y
our sm
all hou
se cle
an
Keep th
e glob
al villa
ge pur
e
Stuffed toys not only affect your small family but also affect the global village