Cheated and Still Failed

Using no plastics for one day was a sinch.

Just kidding.

I cheated and I still failed. Not only did I shower in my plastic shower curtain-lined bath tub the night before, I took the plastic dolphin from Florida off my keychain, and put coffee in my metal and glass French press the night before, too (I high-fived myself and then took it back, as one of my bags of coffee is made out of paper but it has a pointless window made of a plastic film).

Uh oh, we've got trouble. Every day I work at Memorial Library where I use a plastic computer, a plastic printer, a plastic coffee maker (could I be so self-centered as to deny my fellow librarians fresh coffee? No!), pens and mechanical pencils made of plastic, et cetera. I didn't want to get fired, so I worked as usual and thought about how big a role plastics play in my life, and how I wouldn't be able to go about my normal routine without them.

Each morning I use a plastic toothbrush with my toothpaste that is in a plastic casing, I put in my plastic contact lenses or wear my plastic-framed glasses in order to see the front of the classroom, and I use my plastic toaster and plastic-lined refrigerator for breakfast. In this day and age, many women wear some quantity of make-up, and I admit that I do (and I enjoy it). I have been trying to switch over to more natural/organic brands, but they still come packaged in loads of plastic. It's too bad there isn't a recycling program for empty cosmetics items!

I tried planning meals around the non-use of plastic, but I failed again. I thought I could use my glass storage containers to transport food to work and class, but they all have plastic lids. With my relatively hectic schedule, I forgot that I could have used the empty salsa, applesauce and spaghetti sauce containers of glass and aluminum my roommate and I have collected. I constantly wonder what sorts of gunk is leaching into my food and water. Yikes.

Alas, even my bedroom is overwhelmed by plastic materials. How could I possibly read "My Year of Meats" without the assistance of my ridiculously adorable IKEA reading lamp? Why do a lot of plastic things have to be so gosh darn adorable?

All in all, I continuously try to decrease my consumption and usage of plastic materials, because every time my wonderful roommate or I take out the recycling, I feel so guilty about its quantity.

If I didn't use plastic materials every day, I would never use my computer or cell phone, I would lay in bed all day and read or go outside and frolic and ask my boyfriend to cook meals for me with all of my plastic utensils, refrigerator, and storage containers. This sounds like a perfect vacation, but I couldn't do this forever.

Lastly, now that it is of a holiday-worthy temperature, I wear my bulky Columbia coat that has multiple kinds of plastics in it (along with my bulky but reliable boots) and I take the city bus that is comprised of all sorts of plastics. If I didn't do these things, I would either be frostbitten every day or never leave my lovely house.

These are a few of the thoughts I had of this day (more like week) of trying to not use plastics. Don't worry creatures of the Pacific Ocean, I will try as hard as I can to not add to your already gargantuan garbage patch!

-Melissa Flores, TA Tiffany Grade