What do you think?
Rate this book
You Are Eating Plastic Every Day: What's in Our Food?
Scientists have recently started studying plastic pollution and our food supply. And, make no mistake, you are eating microscopic pieces of plastic everyday. What does it mean for our health? And what can you do about it? Students will get practical tips on how they can get involved and become part of the solution.
64 pages, Paperback
Published August 1, 2019
1 person is currently reading
44 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
December 7, 2019
"Some experts predict that by 2050 the ocean's contents will be alarmingly out of balance. If all the fish and all the plastic could be weighed, there would be more plastic." (p. 38)
And we're not discussing just plastic bottles and rubber ducks. Think microplastics and nanoplastics. Bits of plastic so small they can attach themselves to a grain of salt and YOU CANNOT SEE THEM when you eat them. (Some scientists estimate that we are already eating almost 70,000 microplastics a year. p. 30)
So well written and worthy of our 5th-9th grade students' time. Student-friendly layout and design. 56 pages. Smith-Llera makes the case that plastic pollution is a pervasive problem--you cannot escape it just by eating a certain way. Her writing is clear and cohesive. In student-friendly terms, she explains how plastic does and does not break down, the recycling path (and when plastic goes off the path), how plastic enters our food chain, how it impacts ocean-life and bird-life. She includes statistics, explains findings in the research, shares anecdotes about real-life scientists and activists. She also makes the case that plastic is "dangerous and helpful" (think gloves for handling raw meat and syringes for sanitation purposes and so forth). She closes with the argument that we need to figure out how to reduce our use of plastics, how to invent plant-based substitutes for plastic, how to clean up the mess we've already made. She conveys most of this information through statistics and stories about activists and scientists working on these problems.
Wish Smith-Llera had cited the research studies and statistics; she does include an extensive bibliography, but it might be hard to figure out which facts she found where. This is not a deal breaker, though.
I'd BOOK TALK this -- read aloud the first few pages and project the photograph of the decomposed seabird - in which you see skeleton, feathers, and a stomach full of bits of plastic. I'd say to students, "It's not enough to give up straws and plastic bags. Who wants to read to find out why? And what we can do about it?"
BOOK CLUB--great for small group discussions. There's sure to be a lot of "I can't believe..." and "Did you know that..." and "So what can we do..." conversations.
SERIOUSLY - GET THIS INTO THE HANDS OF YOUR STUDENTS!!!!
And we're not discussing just plastic bottles and rubber ducks. Think microplastics and nanoplastics. Bits of plastic so small they can attach themselves to a grain of salt and YOU CANNOT SEE THEM when you eat them. (Some scientists estimate that we are already eating almost 70,000 microplastics a year. p. 30)
So well written and worthy of our 5th-9th grade students' time. Student-friendly layout and design. 56 pages. Smith-Llera makes the case that plastic pollution is a pervasive problem--you cannot escape it just by eating a certain way. Her writing is clear and cohesive. In student-friendly terms, she explains how plastic does and does not break down, the recycling path (and when plastic goes off the path), how plastic enters our food chain, how it impacts ocean-life and bird-life. She includes statistics, explains findings in the research, shares anecdotes about real-life scientists and activists. She also makes the case that plastic is "dangerous and helpful" (think gloves for handling raw meat and syringes for sanitation purposes and so forth). She closes with the argument that we need to figure out how to reduce our use of plastics, how to invent plant-based substitutes for plastic, how to clean up the mess we've already made. She conveys most of this information through statistics and stories about activists and scientists working on these problems.
Wish Smith-Llera had cited the research studies and statistics; she does include an extensive bibliography, but it might be hard to figure out which facts she found where. This is not a deal breaker, though.
I'd BOOK TALK this -- read aloud the first few pages and project the photograph of the decomposed seabird - in which you see skeleton, feathers, and a stomach full of bits of plastic. I'd say to students, "It's not enough to give up straws and plastic bags. Who wants to read to find out why? And what we can do about it?"
BOOK CLUB--great for small group discussions. There's sure to be a lot of "I can't believe..." and "Did you know that..." and "So what can we do..." conversations.
SERIOUSLY - GET THIS INTO THE HANDS OF YOUR STUDENTS!!!!
November 25, 2020
Not a bad book if you're looking for an overview of the plastic problem, but doesn't go into enough detail or touch on enough critically important points about plastic pollution in order for it to appeal to readers above a certain age.
December 2, 2019
What has our world come to? We must all stop using so much plastic.
February 25, 2020
Reviewed with The Plastic Problem
These attractive, fact-filled books about plastic pollution crossed my desk yesterday in our new @follettlearning order. I highly recommend both for all elementary and middle school library collections. Both are suitable for browsing or research projects and have relevant full color images, source notes, an index and a glossary.
.
.
.
Some of the horrifying facts I learned about from these books:
~ only 9% of plastic trash is recycled
~ the Yangtze River in China carriers 15 million tons of plastic a year
~ plastic-based clothing sheds clothing in each wash -- about 64,000 pounds of microfibers are released into U.S. water systems every day
~ Seafood mistake microplastics for food, which is one way microplastics enter the food chain
~ Even vegetarians consume microplastics -- as much as 90% of table salt contains microplastics (salt tested in Indonesia was the worst)
~ Cleaning up plastics out of the ocean and other water systems is EXTREMELY difficult
.
.
.
If you could only afford one of these, I'd buy You Are Eating Plastic Every Day. I found it to be slightly better organized and I liked the images better. I did, however, like the section in the other book, The Plastic Problem, about why we can't completely ban plastic, such as that green options aren't necessarily better in every case and that plastic can help reduce food waste. Overall, these are highly informative, interesting books that belong in every school. They will be useful for sustainability units and especially for the upcoming 50th anniversary of Earth Day.
.
.
.
#middleschoollibrarian #middleschoollibrary #library #librarian #futurereadylibs #iteachlibrary #bookstagrammer #bookstagram #librariesofinstagram #librariansofinstagram #librariesfollowlibraries #librarylife #librarianlife #schoollibrarian #middlegrade #middlegradebooks #iteach #librarylove #booksbooksbooks #amreading #bibliophile #schoollibrariansrock #bookreview #bookrecommendation #igreads #malibrary #msla #mediaspecialist
These attractive, fact-filled books about plastic pollution crossed my desk yesterday in our new @follettlearning order. I highly recommend both for all elementary and middle school library collections. Both are suitable for browsing or research projects and have relevant full color images, source notes, an index and a glossary.
.
.
.
Some of the horrifying facts I learned about from these books:
~ only 9% of plastic trash is recycled
~ the Yangtze River in China carriers 15 million tons of plastic a year
~ plastic-based clothing sheds clothing in each wash -- about 64,000 pounds of microfibers are released into U.S. water systems every day
~ Seafood mistake microplastics for food, which is one way microplastics enter the food chain
~ Even vegetarians consume microplastics -- as much as 90% of table salt contains microplastics (salt tested in Indonesia was the worst)
~ Cleaning up plastics out of the ocean and other water systems is EXTREMELY difficult
.
.
.
If you could only afford one of these, I'd buy You Are Eating Plastic Every Day. I found it to be slightly better organized and I liked the images better. I did, however, like the section in the other book, The Plastic Problem, about why we can't completely ban plastic, such as that green options aren't necessarily better in every case and that plastic can help reduce food waste. Overall, these are highly informative, interesting books that belong in every school. They will be useful for sustainability units and especially for the upcoming 50th anniversary of Earth Day.
.
.
.
#middleschoollibrarian #middleschoollibrary #library #librarian #futurereadylibs #iteachlibrary #bookstagrammer #bookstagram #librariesofinstagram #librariansofinstagram #librariesfollowlibraries #librarylife #librarianlife #schoollibrarian #middlegrade #middlegradebooks #iteach #librarylove #booksbooksbooks #amreading #bibliophile #schoollibrariansrock #bookreview #bookrecommendation #igreads #malibrary #msla #mediaspecialist
March 21, 2022
High interest, high visibility, high relevance nonfiction for middle and high school students. I bought this for our Upper School Libary and the Grade 7 Service As Action UN Sustainable Development Global Goals project. A great choice for nonfiction shelves, and sells itself faced out with such a great title and cover (I mean, is that Fruity Pebbles or, YUCK, it's plastic pegs!). Super concise text with colorful illustrations and a ton of useful information packed into 64 pages. It's going to take more than metal straws to solve the mess we are in with microplastics and microscopic polyester threads in our drinking water (shudder). As Booklist quips, "Meet microplastics, the world’s grimmest sprinkles." There are stories at the end about teen activists taking on plastic pollution, let's hope that there are budding scientists who read this and feel more empowered than deflated.
Well-done nonfiction for ages 10 and up that is necessarily sobering. Can work in all libraries, and adults would do well to give it a read and think about being more mindful of our homes and families' plastics use.
Well-done nonfiction for ages 10 and up that is necessarily sobering. Can work in all libraries, and adults would do well to give it a read and think about being more mindful of our homes and families' plastics use.
February 5, 2020
Clear and concise nonfiction, on a compelling topic. Pull-out boxes and illustrations are illuminating and not overly distracting form the text, which is written in a narrative style.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews