The documentary, The Plastic Detox, on Netflix has been filling up my feed lately. It was available for streaming as of April 16, 2026. Rob and I watched this, and we definitely recommend taking some time to watch it. The trailers make it seem a little scary. None of us wants to have to turn our lives upside down, but seeing how some simple swaps in our lives can make a huge impact on our health is worth watching!
The documentary follows 6 couples who are having difficulty conceiving, and Dr. Swan swoops in with her tests and advice on swaps to make in their everyday lives(she gives them a plastic-free kit with several products we carry). I won't ruin the suspense for you, let's just say she proves a point, and the outcome is joyous. =)
Why am I even talking about this? Because we need to. According to the documentary, we will have twice the amount of plastics by 2040 - 2050 as we do today…and we have too many today. =( Plastic products crept into our lives slowly, then super fast, and now they are everywhere. Reducing our use and exposure will be key for future generations.
We do still need some plastic in our lives, but we can reduce our exposure. Yep, I said it, and I often do. Let's switch our mindset to have plastics on an as needed basis, not as the default.
What does this mean? I now wear eyeglasses, the lenses and frames are plastic which makes them lighter and safer to wear. As needed. Cars are made up of plastic to make them lighter and more fuel efficient. As needed. Plastic food storage containers should not be the default, choose to swap those out for glass when you can. Coffee pods in plastic should not be the default, choose to swap out to the refillable metal mesh pods if you can. Skip the plastic water bottle and choose to refill your metal or glass one instead.
These are all simple things we can do, and likely you've already done, to remove a lot of plastic from our daily lives.
Once you've done the simple ones, start new habits of taking some of your spare silverware and wrapping it up in a Not Paper Towel with you so you can skip the plastic stuff when getting takeout for lunch. Remember your reusable mug and water bottle. Try to shop at the farmer's market with your own cotton produce bags or buy veggies not wrapped in plastic at the store if possible.
We don't always have good options, and that's ok…for now. Make the best choices you can, when you can. This is better for your health and also signals to the larger companies what we want.
The NYT wrote a good article on the movie with a ton of great talking points. Maybe read it after you watch the documentary, though, it gives away the ending. =)
Need more reasons to swap out plastic in your life? Recycling isn't the answer the plastics industry wants us to believe it is. Recycling is a business. Some of it gets sent to the landfill, some gets burned, some gets shipped, some gets downcycled, some gets more chemicals added if it is recycled. They touch on this in the documentary. The Plastic Pollution Coalition put together this great article on what happens to your plastic if you want to read more details.
Any way you read it, it shows we need less plastic in our daily lives. Can we get rid of all of it? Probably not. But we can reduce our exposure as much as possible. This will help our health and the health of the planet.
I'd love to hear your thoughts on the documentary! Have you attended a screening with a panel after?
