Failing Miserably at the Plastics Challenge

Growing up, my family had a total of five different garbage bins to collect different kinds of recyclable and non-recyclable trash: Solid waste, organic waste, recyclable packaging material (“the yellow bag”), waste paper and used glass. I grew up in Germany, where recycling your garbage is generally common. Upon first coming to the United States, I was puzzled by the lack of recycling and the extensive use of disposable plastics. When I heard about the extra credit option for this class, I immediately thought that this would not be a problem for me whatsoever. After all, I had grown up in the land of environmental activism, it seemed, (when compared to America). Yes, people used plastics in Germany but at least separating it from other waste and recycling as much as possible was fairly widespread. Surely, this education must have had provided me with enough consciousness about the ubiquity of plastic to ace the challenge with flying colors..

My American contacts packaging is sporting the “green dot.”

But there are no “yellow bags” to properly dispose of it.

I decided to spend a regular day during the week going completely without any throwaway, one-time-use plastics. The previous day I had wondered what there was to prepare but couldn’t think of anything out of the ordinary and went to sleep totally unconcerned. I woke up in the morning, telling myself “this is going to be such a piece of cake.” Instinctively, my hand first moved to the water bottle on my nightstand. I was about to unscrew the top as I remembered that this would be a violation of the rules. Annoyed at this incident, I got up. Still thirsty, I contemplated getting a cup of water from the downstairs kitchen. But that would have required me to go downstairs. Plus, I would have ended up with a non-disposable cup in my room, which then would have to be put back in the dishwasher downstairs. – Nope.

The water looked so refreshing in its evil plastic bottle though!

“Whatever,” I decided and hit the shower instead, moderately grumpy at this point. Upon entering the bathroom, I couldn’t help but notice plastic everywhere… The shower curtains, the shampoo bottles; all things from the window frame to my contact case were plastic. My mood lightened a bit when I realized that my electric toothbrush only requires me to change the head rather than regular toothbrushes which have to be thrown away entirely. Unfortunately, my spirit was crushed when I saw that the Oral-B Pulsonic toothbrush heads come wrapped in unnecessarily thick maximum security plastic packaging, more than 50% of which exists purely for having a list of the same redundant instructions in fourteen different languages on the back.

Step 1: Brush teeth. Step 2: Waste plastic while you’re at it.

Weighed down by the amount of plastics in my life, I walked past the kitchen altogether to avoid further encountering heaps of throwaway plastics and went straight to my car. Unsurprisingly, a pile of disposable plastic was awaiting inside: A Gatorade bottle, a lighter, a tic tac box, and Marlboro Gold cigarettes. I sighed, then I stopped dead in my tracks. It hit me right there: The box of cigarettes. The cigarettes! Not only cigarette boxes contain disposable plastic but also the cigarettes themselves have filters made out of 12,000 plastic-based non-biodegradable fibers, and there is pretty much nothing that meets the definition of “disposable” more than a cigarette butt. Slowly, the first signs of anxiety and dread started creeping up on me in anticipation of a whole smoke-free day. Not only that, but major guilt overcame me at the thought of the past few years.

Plot twist: My bad habit throws me the ultimate curveball.

Had I not been littering, throwing cigarette butts into the streets like they were breadcrumbs at a bird feeding? I sure had. So there I was now: Proud of my home country’s environmental awareness and of my undeniable enthusiasm for recycling and gobsmacked with the realization that I had been contributing very actively yet mostly unwittingly to the immeasurable amounts of “forever trash” littering our world. By the time I had reached campus, I was a stressed out mess. There was a synergy of bad feelings: 1. a looming panic over not being allowed my nicotine fix all day and 2. the guilty conscience over my hypocrisy with respect to littering in the past.

By the end of the first class period, I had begrudgingly admitted to myself that I would probably fail spectacularly at the challenge. And sure enough, a mere hour later, I had caved in to my cravings. Nevertheless, I still learned some very important things from the attempt: An important lesson in humility on the one hand, and a declared intention to consciously watch where I put my cigarette butts in the future on the other.

-- Max Röntgen (23 April 2015)

Using Alternatives to Decrease my Carbon Footprint!

It was so hard to do this challenge, but I was able to accomplish not using disposable plastics for 2 full days. Doing a challenge like this allows you to be exposed to a new way of living and how what you do every day can affect you in the long run. I realized that my roommate and I were using a lot of disposable plastics and I wanted to see what we could do without them for 2 days. These are some of the things that we were using on a daily basis:

  

We would use the plastic forks/spoons and plates for any food that we were heating up or using as protection from the food spilling over in the microwave. Even after using it for something as simple as that we still would just throw the plates and forks away after we used them and didn't really think of the impact that we are having on the world. Even the wrapping that protects the cups, forks/spoons, and plates are all plastic as well and once we open the packages we just throw the plastics right out. I knew that taking away this plastics were going to be a hard experience especially not being able to use plastic bags at stores because those are the easiest ways to carry out your groceries. I thought I was doing myself and the world a service by accumulating all the bags I use and saving them but in the end I realized that I don’t need them and end up throwing them out like other disposable plastics. 

My alternatives to disposable plastics were very easy to accumulate and very easy to swap out in my everyday life. It’s sometimes hard to remember to grab your recyclable bag on your way out the door but I found that by hanging it on the door the day before I went shopping I automatically grabbed the bag. Knowing that i was making a change in my life jut by using an alternative to plastics was a great feeling. These are my alternatives that I used to eliminate disposable plastics out of my life for 2 days:          

 

these are still things that i use everyday but instead use the very cheap and accessible items instead. Knowing how much of a difference little things like this makes in the world really encourages me to do this everyday which will be a hard but well worthy challenge. 

Overall, this was a wonderful experience and challenge to myself to see how committed I can be and how receptive I am to change. I have made a change in the world and in my own life just by trying something new and I will be to sure to encourage all my friends and family to try the same thing. The only way to change is through word of mouth so I will let everyone I know or come across of the changes that could occur if we just swap a few things out of our lives. This was an eye-opening experience and should be encouraged in classrooms around the world to see the impact that we could have on the world just by participating in a 2 day event.  

                                                                                                            - Charnele McIntosh

Two days without disposable plastics, Mikayla Young

Two days without disposable plastics

The two days I sent without disposable plastic was a real eye opener to the amount of plastic I use daily. 

Day One

One of the first things I had to change is how I contain my extra pancakes. I make pancakes in large amount and then freeze them so I have an easy breakfast in the morning. I typically place my pancake in plastic sandwich bags but instead I placed them into Tupperware.  Another problem with making pancakes is the pancake mix comes in a cardboard box but then within a plastic bag which is where I first failed the disposable plastic challenge. Later that day I went grocery shopping at Econo Foods, luckily for me they ask paper or plastic which I used paper instead of plastic. After grocery shopping I was hungry for a quick snack which caused me to fail the challenge again because I had Ramon Noodles that come in plastic. Later that night for dinner instead of using a plastic cup to drink out of I used a glass cup. I also ate a meal that was not packaged in a disposable plastic, which was eggs that came in a cardboard container but the cheese came in plastic so I failed again. I started to notice it is extremely difficult to make meals that don’t come in plastic or you use plastic to transport them. I mean even fruit when you buy them from the store you are still recommended to use the plastic produce bags. For day two I was determined to not fail like I did a few times already.

Day Two

       

        I woke to having my premade pancakes which were not in disposable plastic. I went to Transportation Engineering and then Calculus II which both those classes I did not use any dispose able plastic. When I got home around noon I was ready for lunch. I was determined to come up with a meal that is not packaged in a disposable plastic. Spaghetti is one of the few things I could come up with that was not in plastic. The noodles come in a cardboard box and the sauce comes in a metal can. I decided to not have Parmesan cheese because that is packaged in plastic. I also had water out of a glass cup instead of a disposable plastic cup. I had leftovers that I placed into my glass containers I actually typically used for tomato based foods.  I then did my homework which took most of the rest of the day. For dinner I just had the leftover spaghetti because I was stressed out from homework and honestly sick of the plastic challenge because it was affecting me a lot more than I expected. I could have things like milk because it comes in plastic; I couldn't even have Parmesan cheese on my spaghetti because so much of our food is packaged in plastic that you then later throw away. After that day I was happy to go back to not worrying if I'm using disposable plastic or not. It did make me realize the large amount of plastics we use daily and  will make me try harder to use less then what I already use.

                

A Full Day Without Plastics

 A Full Day Without Plastics

by Robert Hazen

I made the decision to go one whole day without plastics, assuming that it would be easy, but I was dead wrong. Everything we use nowadays makes use of plastic—clothing, pens, computers, phones, cars, housewares, food wrappers and much more—that’s only the things we use on a daily basis. My approach was to just stay indoors, but as you can imagine, this is extremely boring. If you want a challenge, trying sitting in a room surrounded by the plastics you unconsciously use on a daily basis. 

To pass the time, I was about to turn on the television and then realized that I could not even do that because the remote and television both contain plastic. Listen to music? Nope—my phone and computer both contain plastic. I thought a brief second at the homework I should do, but decided against that. The thought of being stuck indoors all day was maddening, but from the time I woke up, I managed to eat a somewhat healthy breakfast of eggs—which were the ones from the cardboard container, and water from the tap. By this point, I have managed to go three hours without plastics, and already it was a challenge. 

Finding something to pass the time is difficult, so I began working on my final reports for classes, just pencil and paper. I cannot even remember the last time I wrote a first draft on paper—it feels like an ancient art that has been lost to technology, and I can see why. This process is much slower… Ugh! By the time I finish writing up one essay, I passed another three hours—the time was mainly spent reading books, and looking for sources (again, a longer process than looking online for source information). So all together, six hours have passed. What a waste of a day, especially since it was one of the more decent days we had. But I like giving myself a challenge. That is the whole reason as to why I chose to do the most difficult option.

After getting some of the work done on my first essay, I now move on to the second essay. This one was harder because I needed to use a computer to find sources, but despite that, I began writing down the introduction and developing the ideas as to how I wanted to write the essay. You never realize how important computers are until you cannot use them. And then when you do use them, it is always a love-hate relationship. Another two hours pass, and I am exhausted from writing. Eight whole hours of a day. Only 12 more to go. By this point, I was out of options. I definitely was not going to do more homework, but I could fix lunch—that will knock off another half hour of preparing food: a bowl of soup, with more tap water.

I made it eight and a half hours! This would be a great accomplishment for anyone as it was for me. I guess to kill some more time, I could take a nap, but I was not really tired. Instead, I passed the time by sorting through my rock and copper collection, and better organized them. I could look at rocks all day, but two hours is long enough. By this time, ten and a half hours passed without using any plastics. From 8AM to 6:30PM is a long stretch for anyone.

But unfortunately, I gave in after this. I just had to put shoes on and go outside. There is no way I was going to miss the end of such a beautiful day. If shoes did not have plastics in them, I would have been outside all day long. Unfortunately, I could not complete the 24 hour challenge, but I learned that it was possible, albeit extremely boring, while at the same time being paranoid that something has plastic in it. 

I think this is a challenging task given that everything we use, and depend on, on a daily basis has plastic in it. Plastic is a danger to the environment and the ecosystem, and both the manufacturing and end product contain endocrine disruptors that harms ourselves and the ecosystem. But plastic has made our lives easier—it is a lightweight and durable product and is in everything we use to bring down the costs of other products, like televisions and phones. It is the product that we use to communicate to the world and others. Without plastic, our lives would be comparable to the Amish or the pilgrims. But while this has its benefits for us, the harmful aspects of plastic need to be addressed, and to do so, our next challenge is to find a way to produce and manufacture plastic that does not take away from its quality, but does remove the toxins and endocrine disruptors from the equation.

A Day Without Plastics

A Day Without Plastic

By: Jessica Doney

I was challenged to go a full day without plastics. Some people may claim that this is an easy task or that it can actually be done, but it really does get you thinking about how much plastic you actually use on a daily basis, whether that is disposable plastic or if it something like your cell phone or laptop computer at home.

I was in Green Bay, WI a few weeks ago for a Girl Scout Leadership Conference. I was going to attempt to complete this challenge while I was at the conference all day that Saturday, because how hard could it be to sit at a conference all day and attend my 5 sessions and not come into contact with plastic…………well………I blew the whole challenge before I even got out of bed because I picked up my phone off of the night stand which is half made out of plastic. I was disregarding the plastic that is in the sheets of my bed for this challenge because I had no choice unless I was going to sleep on the bathroom floor with no blankets. Just getting ready for the day I came across a lot of items that I use on a daily basis that are made of like 100% plastic. For example, the hair brush I use every morning to tame my wicked wig is 100% plastic. 

I continue on to only pick up more and more items that are made of plastic that I use every morning before leaving the house to go to work or to class.

 My laptop and my tablet are very key pieces in my life that I use all the time.

For most who know me I don’t go very far without the two items above and that being the pair of sun glasses and the Brita water bottle. I find those two items necessities in my life.

The next think that all my friends know me for and also something I don’t go far from the house without would be the cowboy boots that I wear every day. Unfortunately the soles on the boots are a rubber that is a form of plastic.

 After seeing all the plastic I use on a daily basis and that is only a very small portion and I am not even out the door to walk down the hall to the conference, I decided to turn the challenge into one where I could use the least amount of plastic for the rest of the day. For the most part it went well because we were given wax covered paper cups to put water into to take with us thought the day and for lunch the glasses were glass and the plates were made out of a clay pottery like material. Now I did run into plastic because the table cloths and the clothing I was wearing had a small amount of plastic in it. Plastic items surround us everywhere and are hard to get rid of sometimes.

You could choose to replace some of the items that you use on a daily basis to something that doesn't involve plastic, such as using a wood handled hairbrush with metal bristles. Now most people don’t enjoy those kinds of brushes but if you really wanted to it could be done. After thinking about the plastic that I use on a daily basis, not much of it is actually plastic that is disposed of on a daily basis. My water bottle, sunglasses, phone and tablet, and my hair brush aren't things I throw away and buy new every day, they are items that last awhile before needing to be replaced somehow. This cuts down on how much plastic I contribute to the environment on a daily basis, but even tossing out old hair brushes and such items even like empty deodorant sticks when they are gone start to add up.

So after trying to go plastic free for one day, I epically failed, it was still a learning experience for me to take into consideration how much plastic I use or come into contact with in one day. 

The Plastics Challenge

http://theplasticschallenge.blogspot.com/

Optional Extra Credit: Becoming aware of how much plastic we use. Due April 23 before the final class.

You can choose
Option A: 2 days without discardable plastics.
OR
Option B: A full waking day without ANY plastics (much harder!)

Option A: 2 days without discardable plastics.

Take 2 days to pay attention to all the discardable plastic you (and your family or housemates) use. Gather it all together and take at least one picture of it all.

Then challenge yourself to two full days without any disposable plastic. You’ll need to plan ahead: bring cloth bags to the grocery store; stock up on containers for food storage; bring your own mugs or water bottles to events. Take pictures of your alternatives.

By April 23rd, write a 500 word blog entry about your experience, and post it here. Include at least one picture of your household’s discardable plastic and one picture of your alternatives.

OR

Option B: A full day without ANY plastics

Can you go for a full waking day without any plastic at all? Spend a full day (or as long as you can) without plastic, and then describe your experiences. Take notes in pencil, since your computer and phone both probably contain plastic. The next day, take a photograph of all the plastic you use in an ordinary day and a photo of your alternatives. Post a blog entry (at least 500 words and 2 pictures) about your attempts to go without plastic for a day, and reflect on the ways that plastic is part of your ordinary life. What are the benefits? What are the problems?

Courtney Fournier: Two Days Avoiding Disposable Plastic

Two Days Avoiding Disposable Plastic

Courtney Fournier

                I have always tried to live by the words “reduce, reuse, and recycle”.  I would have liked to challenge myself to go a day without any plastics, but my phone, laptop, and calculator are made of plastic and as an engineering student who needs constant communication with lab groups, a job, and family it was not feasible. Since I would not have been able to truly make it a day without these important plastic items, I chose to go two days without any disposable plastics. Many people have always called me a "tree-hugger", so this challenge was not very difficult to me. However, it did bring to my attention how much plastic and recyclable plastic is in my home, and the programs out there to recycle other plastics. 

Saturday April 4^th

                The first plastic I came into contact with was my agenda. I am unsure if the plastic covering is recyclable or not since there is no number on it.  I went to grab a mechanical pencil, but quickly used an old-fashioned wood one instead. I wondered if it was recyclable or if they are just discarded to go into the landfill.  After doing some research I found out that you cannot put your pencil and pens directly into your recycling bin, but there are many programs out there that are collecting these office supplies such as pens, pencils, and markers to be reused and recycled.

                I am addicted to chapstick and use it multiple times a day, specifically the brand Burt’s Bees, so I got curious to see if that was recyclable. I did some research and found that some brands use recyclable plastic, and would be stamped with the number five. Other such as Burt’s Bees can be recycled through other programs such as this program called Gimme 5, which has recycling bins all over the United States. (1)

                After my day was almost over, I realized that I had been getting water out of a recyclable jug! My roommate and I have a water cooler and dispenser which we drink our water from. The five gallon jug that sits on top is recyclable, it is stamped with the number one; however, we refill the same two jugs that we have.

Sunday, April 5, 2015

                I started off my morning by showering, which it occurred to me I have never thought about if my soap bottles were recyclable. Not to my surprise all bottles, mine and my roommates, are indeed recyclable. When living at home I always make sure my family recycled everything they could. I am going to make sure my family of 8 eight knows to recycle the plastic soap bottles as well!

                I had to go to Wal-Mart to buy some last minute ingredients to make dinner, but like always I brought my reusable bag. I hate plastic bags and feel strongly that they should be banned all together. After interning at a landfill my hate for plastic bags increased even more. 

                I try my best to use little disposable plastic that I can. I encourage my family and friends to recycle, use reusable bags, and never buy plastic water bottles. After paying closer attention to the plastics around me, there are more recyclable plastics than I have realized. I am also going to look more deeply into the recycling programs that collect plastics that cannot be recycled traditionally from your waste service.

Appendix:

(1)    “Smile! You Can Recycle Plastic Lip Balm Tubes”, RecycleScene, (2015), 4/5/2015, http://www.recyclescene.com/how-to-recycle/smile-can-recycle-plastic-lip-balm-tubes