How to choose which plastics are safe (relatively)

Many of us are moving to green now-a-days and often its a challenge to find some alternatives to the plastics that we use. Following is the description of the Types of plastics and how good/bad they are. Hope this helps in conscious choice.

1. PETE: Polyethylene terephthalate ethylene used for soft drink, juice, water, detergent, cleaner and peanut butter containers. It was considered the safest and is the most common plastic and easy to recycle. However, a recent study found traces of DEHP in bottled water stored in a PET bottle for more than 9 months.
2. HDPE: High density polyethylene, used in opaque plastic milk and water jugs, bleach, detergent and shampoo bottles and some plastic bags. It is considered safe and easy to recycle.
3. PVC or V or DEHA : Polyvinyl chloride or di(2-ethylhexyl)adipate used for cling wrap, some plastic squeeze bottles, cooking oil and peanut butter jars, detergent and window cleaner bottles. PVC is well known to be associated with liver cancer. DEHA is linked to negative effects on the liver, kidney, spleen, bone formation and body weight. It is the least recyclable.
4. LDPE: Low density polyethylene, used in gro­cery store bags, most plastic wraps and some bottles. It is considered safe but hard to recycle.
5. PP: Polypropylene, used in most Rubbermaid, deli soup, syrup and yogurt containers, straws and other clouded plastic containers, including baby bottles. It is considered safe but hard to recycle.
6. PS: Polystyrene, used in Styrofoam food trays, egg cartons, disposable cups and bowls, carry-out containers and opaque plastic cutlery. Styrene can leach from polystyrene and is toxic to the brain and nervous system. It also has been found to affect red blood cells, liver, kid­neys and stomach in animal studies. It is hard to recycle.
7. Other: Usually polycarbonate, used in most plastic baby bottles, 5-gallon water bottles, “sport” water bottles, metal food can liners, clear plastic “sippy” cups and some clear plastic cutlery. New bio-based plastics may also be labeled #7. Polycarbonate can leach Bisphenol A, a chemical that mimics the action of the human hormone estrogen. It was found to stimulate prostate cancer, produce ovarian dysfunction, genetic damage, etc. (see Baby Bottles free of BPA).

Existance of God ?

Just few minutes back me and my family had a great discussion on “Inquiry” on God. My parents, my 2 sisters, my wife and my niece were in this discussion from night 9.30pm till 12.30am. We are generally a god loving and god fearing family at the same my me, my wife and my second sister are sort of close knitted with the idea and practice the “self-image-of-god”. Of course, we are not trying to prove who is right and who is wrong; instead, we are reasoning each and every practice of ours.

Group 1 (Fundamentalists): They believe that there is GOD controlling everything on this earth and the entire universe. Anything that goes against GOD is deemed to be marked as sin. They believe in each and everything that different gods say, practice and preach. They highly believe in different Gurus and Babas. Once they believe in a Guru, whatever guru says, that’s the ultimate truth and there is no need to verify anything. They have GOD as the support system and whenever they get into trouble, they ask GOD for help. They don’s like the idea that you can create your own luck and your own destiny.

Group 2 (Independent Thinkers): They believe that there is a greater power that keeps everything intact in this world. They can’t believe something unless there is a proof and logical (and not religious) explanation for it. When someone says “It’s like that”… they follow them with the “Why and How”. They like to believe in them selves and each and every consequence is the result of their action. If they become success, it’s because they worked hard and gained certain skills in life that helped them. Instead of keeping their support system in GOD, they believe in their wife, friends and parents. They believe that Parents and Teachers are the greatest people who make you as areal Person and grateful to them.

Questions from Independent Thinkers :

• “Everyone is same in front of God” is the popular belief. If this is the case, why do different people have different problems in life. There is a great disparity in lives, wealth and growth of people. Person whom we see would have done a great work at their home and work but would have had a pitiful death.
• As a Father, one would take care of their kids till the death. If one considers GOD to be the father, why does he inflict pain and suffering in people. Does GOD likes the one who worships him a lot ?
• Many scriptures talk about the “Karma”. Whatever you do in this life is carry forwarded to next life and this life is  completely the result of previous. If we back track like this, there is one life in which all of us have a clean chit and we all are real good guys. Then God had some weird ideas and made some good and some bad. Why does he need to create the bad guys ? Can’t he suggest or reprimand his own kids about good and bad things. On the other hand, if every decision is mine, what is the need of GOD ?
• If i need to anyway take the pain and pay my debts of my past sins, why should i care about GOD ?
• God is the one who created the Lion in jungle and Lion eats all the animals and had great power and strength. Does that mean that the Lion is bad and it will go to hell ? So, now GOD is the one who gave it the natural power and he is the one who is punishing it (because it kills and eats smaller animals)?
• If Gurus and Babas are correct and they are the ultimate gods, then whatever they say also MUST happen. The fact that many of us see different results of such predictions indicates that we should be cautious to know what to follow and what not to follow. Blind faith is dangerous for everyone.
• Following added on 10/05/2009
• Who is God
• Who is Guru
• Differences between God and Guru
• How can Guru help me attaining my goals
• What is Spirituality
• Spirituality in Practice and how can it help you
• If Karma is definite for everyone, then how can i face it
• I do lot of prayers and lot of poojas. Why do i get MORE problems than others
• How can i maintain spirituality in this modern world
• I do prayers everyday. Am i liberated ?
• I pray and go to temples frequently. Am i a good devotee ?
• I don’t pray or go to temples frequently but i respect and thing about god. Am i a good devotee ?
• What are the vales that we should pass on to our kids ?
• Why should i do Pooja ?
• If Karma and Fate are definite and nothing can change it. Then why do all spiritual leaders say that if you pray god, your hardships will be gone ?
• We often hear that the destiny of a man is written on his face when he takes birth. If so, our puranas also tells that by doing poojas, many women stopped the death of their husbands. Now, people are confused about who is right. What should they listen to.
• What is the power of Mantra ? Why should i chant ?
• If you listen to Ramayana, MahaBharata and other Puranams, you get quite confused about the interpretations of Gurus. Not to mention the names of gurus, One started saying that Ramayana should be treated as though Rama and Sita are ONLY human beings. And on several occations, he also talks about they did something as a human but in their mind they know that they are here for a purpose. The author tries to substantiate whatever Rama/Sita/Lakshmana does in the whole plot. In the end, we get a  feeling that a sentense can be interpreted in a number of ways. And the spiritual leaders tries to PUSH this idea of Ramayana into people by POSITIVE interpretation of an action even though it’s not.
• e.g. During the Sitapaharana scenes, Rama goes out to get the Golden Deer and once Deer shouts in the voice of Rama, Sita gets worried. At that time Sita says lot of bad things to Lakshmana, who initally refuses to go out to protect Rama. Sita suspects lakshmana that he wants Sita and he was with them only to kill Rama and then marry Sita. Once these verses are over, almost all the interpreters say that she says this not because Lakshmana is bad but unless she says this he will not go out. She knows that they are here for the purpose and the purpose is to kill Ravana. In this manner, if an author goes on supporting whatever is said by the Ramayana characters, then everything they say seems to be CORRECT. There is no logical explanation but you just need to believe it without thinking further.

Of course we did not get answers to many of our questions and we are still in the discussion process. Please do let us know what you think about this topic and i would like to hear more about your experiences and beliefs.