A day without plastic

The Industrial Revolution changed the world forever, but was it for the better? Cars and factories burn fossil fuels that we all inhale and all materials that we produce have the possibility of getting us sick, including plastic. The Industrial cycle is a one-way route from the manufacturer to the consumer to a land fill called cradle-grave.  The landfills are not going anywhere, they are just accumulating; we need to make a change. 

 A day without plastic. 

Is this a feasible option in our society today where almost everything is manufactured with plastic?  To me, in order to not use plastic I would have to stay in bed and literally do nothing because almost everything we touch and use has some form of plastic in it. Our food is wrapped in plastic. Our cell phones and computers are made of plastic and were probably wrapped in a form of plastic so there were not any scratches on our new purchases. Our shoes, helmets, sinks, dishwashers all have plastic in them. Did you know every single item that is delivered to a store in the mall is wrapped in a plastic wrap then grouped together with similar products in another piece of plastic? Working in a small store we would throw away three full garbage bags of just plastic wrap when processing shipment. Multiply that times the number of days in the week and the amount of stores in the mall and the numbers shocking. So where does this leave me on this project, if lying in bed all day isn’t an option (although I definitely contemplated doing this). 

I believe that if we want our world to survive then there needs a change in the way we use our resources and products; there needs to be a cradle-cradle life cycle. Rather than focus on not using any plastic, I believe it is more beneficial to think of the ways we can modify our lives in order to cut out the unnecessary use of plastic. For instance, one could bring their own bag to the grocery store. We could use glass dishes and cups instead of buying plastic. One could use a mason jar for a water bottle instead of using plastic bottles. If we grow our own food then it does not need to be packaged individually. 

  Another instance is in the case of home building and building green buildings. One can choose to use shredded newspaper to insulate their home instead of toxic insulation; which works the same as the insulation but does not have as many cancer causing toxins. Green materials can create a healthier and safer atmosphere for everyone and either cost the same or less than standard materials, so why are we continuing to use the other materials?

A day without plastic just isn’t realistic in the world we live in today; however it is possible to make changes to our lifestyle in order to reduce the use of plastic. As always reduce, reuse, recycle!!

Lauren Heffron, Vanessa, Thursday 12:05