Many people I know claim to have never met a plastic that they like or trust. Anti-plastic Web sites are beginning to appear where people share alternatives to plastic, especially the plastics that hold our food. (Two of my favorites are cynematic and fakeplasticfish and one that has been around a while mindfully.org.

Here we are trying to eat healthy and it turns out we are getting a hefty dose of organochlorine in our food via the leaching from the plastic. Or if it is not organochlorine then it is a host of other synthetic and toxic chemicals, such as bispehnol A (BPA), the latest hi tech plastic to fall from grace.

Another plastic ingredient to come under scrutiny are phthalates, the “plasticizer” that makes PVC soft and pliable, and it is regularly found in children’s toys. Europe has banned the substance and found a suitable replacement. China makes the vast majority of children’s toys and some companies maintain side-by-side production lines, one for Europe and one for the United States, putting out identical toys–well, except for the toxic ingredients. The European Union operates under something called the “precautionary principle,” which allows the government to err on the side of caution as opposed to waiting twenty years to discover that phthalates cause developmental deformities in children. The PBS show NOW show did an excellent segment called Toxic Toys? It’s definitely worth the 28 minutes to watch if you missed it when it first aired in March 2008.

Once plastic was our future, just like Mr. McGuire told Benjamin in The Graduate. And now it is our nemesis. And it is an evil that will not easily be defeated or even recognized. Food companies, manufacturers from all categories of industry, and everyday citizens have so much invested in plastics that it will, no doubt, take a major catastrophe to end this dependence.

Just the concept of eliminating plastic from their lives is enough to send most people I know into a maelstrom of depression. Even just reviewing the food issues is enough to bring on a migraine.

I’ve done the easy task: bought two water bottles, one from Sigg and one from Klean Kanteen. Over the years I have changed from one plastic to another, and I have finally decided that it is no longer worth the risk. So no more plastic water bottles for me. If you don’t want to invest in $20 bottles, then at least use a glass one (although they are heavy though). You can buy a beer cozy or a neoprene bottle cover in case you drop the bottle.

And what about the five-gallon jugs we get our delicious spring water in? Polycarbonate. Equals BPA. So what are the options? We can’t dig a well on our property and the city water comes in through the most evil plastic of all, polyvinyl chloride.

Preliminary research shows that for adults, the hazards of BPA may be minimal, but of course there have not been enough studies. But there is enough alarm that one of the most popular water bottle makers, Nalgene, which has made a fortune touting hard polycarbonate as a safe alternative to those flexible bottles that have the propensity to leach chemicals into the liquids, drop the BPA line altogether. (They are embracing a new plastic, something called, Tritan Copolyester made by Eastman Chemical Company.) This is beginning to sound like the old woman who swallowed the fly. What’s next?

So the question becomes this: If I get my water from a five-gallon polycarbonate jug or through the PVC pipes that bring water to my property, does it really matter if I transfer it to a stainless steel bottle?