Ihor Sehinovych's Plastics Challenge (Emma 312)

Plastics have become a part of the culture in 1st world countries; it is nearly impossible to survive a day without plastics. Most people aren’t aware of how depended we are when it comes to using plastics, and this is surprising because almost everything contains some form of plastics.
At the beginning of my day, I didn’t use an alarm clock because it is made from plastics. After getting out of bed, I had to pick clothes that didn’t contain plastics; some of my hoodies have plastics on the strings to adjust the hood, and I had to use clothes that weren’t hung on plastic hangers. Luckily, I have clothes that is hung from wooden hangers, and folded in a dresser. I had issues all day turning on the light since the switches contained plastics, and so did the lights. Then I had to use my parents shower since mine has a plastic top, but I might have cheated here since I’m pretty sure the floor was plastic. I had to use bar soap since both my shampoo and bottle soap are in plastic bottles. Luckily, my parents shower is huge and doesn’t have a plastic curtain to prevent the floor becoming wet. I first failed when I put I my contacts because they are in a plastic container, and so is the contact solution. I decided to continue and see what other problems I might encounter. I had to find a wooden comb because mine is plastic. After, I asked my mom to get me my medication because it is in plastic bottles. Then I was going to have some milk with a bagel, but couldn’t do either, since milk is in a plastic container and bagels are wrapped with a plastic bag. Instead I had some eggs, but I couldn’t find anything to drink. This was an issue because the water in my house is either in plastic bottles or filtered in a plastic container, but luckily my town has good sink water so I had a glass cup of water. I brushed my teeth with my finger since my toothbrush is plastic.
Then I couldn’t relax and watch TV since the TV has many plastic parts. Instead I read a book for an assignment, and as I as filling out my worksheet I had to use a wooden pencil instead of the usual mechanical pencil. I couldn’t do it at my desk or couch because they contain plastics. I ended up doing it on the floor of my room. As I started thinking about my day, I realized I couldn’t do much. I was unable to talk to any of my friends since my phone and computer both contained plastics. This part annoyed me the most since I heard my phone ringing and I couldn’t do anything about it. I wasn’t able to do much homework since most of it included using a computer. I couldn’t even play my guitar since the strings are attached to the bridge with plastic knobs. I couldn’t leave the house because cars contain an obscene amount of plastic. Afterwards, I played some pool with my dad, but had to ask him to unscrew a knob at the bottom of my pool stick because it contained plastic. Luckily, our pool table is wood and doesn’t contain plastics like most pool tables. During the day I tried to have as many fruits as possible since most of my other snacks were wrapped in plastics. For lunch my mom made some food in the oven which contains plastic, and I had to find metal silverware because the everyday silverware in my house contains plastics and is hung from a plastic holder.
Boredom made me quit the plastics challenge. I used my couch, television, and remote to watch TV. Then I used my phone because I wanted to see some of my friends over break. This just led to a slippery slope, I put on my shoes which contained plastics, I used my car to go meet my friends, and I closed the garage door with a plastic remote. After hanging out at my friend’s house we went to get some food, where I used my credit, which contains plastics, to pay for my food.
Before this challenge I pretty much knew it would be quite difficult to finish my day free of plastics. I decided to do during break because I knew my school schedule would be impossible without plastics; since I have to use binders, computers, and some of my classes have plastic desk. However, even at home it was extremely difficult, it could have been done if all I did was sit on the floor and read books and eat and drink very limited and selected things. Since it was break I did want to get certain things done and failed the plastics challenge. I was aware that we depend on plastics a lot, but I didn’t expect that plastics played this crucial of a role in my everyday routine. If society wants to preserve the earth for future generations, we need to start thinking of ways to substitute plastics with more sustainable materials. Plastics are damaging to the environment, and most don’t get recycled. Many contain harmful materials that can be leached or emitted when plastic get degraded or burned. In today’s world it is hard to reject plastics because we depend on them heavily; however, people do need to realize the harmful effects. We need to make the government regulate companies into producing fewer plastics and more alternatives such as liquid wood and biodegradable packaging that will diminish our dependence on plastics.