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 4th
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
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