Life Without Plastics

Joe Fruehbrodt
Peter Boger - Friday at 11:00

Well I decided to take my attempt at the plastics challenge on a fairly uneventful day to try and make it as simple as possible. I made a few preliminary decisions the night before to prepare for life without plastics. They included having my roommate wake me up, preparing meals beforehand and keeping them in tinfoil, and getting most of my computer work done so I didn’t need to use it the next day. Then I said goodbye to my phone for the next twenty four hours, which might have been the most emotional part of the entire ordeal. This was then followed by the easiest part and beginning of “The Plastics Challenge”: sleeping. Before going to bed I didn’t brush my teeth, shower, or anything so I was still in the clear for plastic use as far as I know.

I woke up the next day at around 9:00, put on a normal t-shirt (can’t wear anything with buttons) and the rest of my plastic-less clothing then realized a large problem: what am I supposed to wear on my feet to class? All my pairs of shoes have plastic in them, so it was either give in to temptation or wear my slippers to class. I decided to just go ahead and wear the slippers because I only had to go to two classes. I went downstairs to do my daily routine and walked into the bathroom to brush my teeth, put on deodorant, the usual. I stopped there and though for a while: well great now what? I decided to put on deodorant, so then I just decided to brush my teeth because I was already in the wrong. Plus I wanted to do humanity a favor with my proper hygiene. I ate my previously poured cereal in a ceramic bowl with milk I poured into a glass the night before and left in the refrigerator. I couldn’t take my vitamins because I forgot to take them out of the plastic container the night before.

I chose this day because I only had two lectures so I could just carry my notebooks (paper, metal, and cardboard) to class and bypass the use of my backpack which had some plastic in it. Unfortunately I did run into a fairly large problem, which was that it was mid-twenties outside and my winter jacket is littered with plastic. This I had to give into, so I put it on and walked to class. My walk to class was pretty boring without my plastic filled mp3 player and headphones. When I got to class in chemistry I was confronted by good news, wooden seats and desktops. I pulled out my wooden pencil and hated how it got dull as I continued to take notes. Additionally, I left my wallet on my desk the night before to keep away from my plastic cards and what not. My pockets sure felt bare now that my new life had begun. Once every few minutes I would find myself grabbing for my phone to check the time, see if I had any texts, ect. I got through class alright, but the walk home was mighty cold because I couldn’t ride the bus back. Lunch was pretty boring; it would have been nice to microwave the pizza I had set aside the night before in tin foil. Oh well, I have had worse in my life than cold pizza accompanied by water in a glass. I went up to my room afterwards to chill with my roommate, but he was playing video games. As a result, I just layed in my bed and decided to read a book. I actually fell asleep from this lack of activity, which was probably a good thing because I didn’t get any temptations to use my computer or phone.

I woke up and decided to do some homework. I sat down at my desk and started reading microbiology, but I couldn’t highlight anything so I just wrote notes on the side with my wooden pencil. After a while it dawned on me that my computer chair had plastic in it. Another strike on the board and things are beginning to roll downhill. I quit that activity and went downstairs and was thinking about food, which is common occurrence. My roommate Kevin was cooking up some pasta, so I stopped and talked to him. He said, “Hey you want some of this pasta I’m making seeing as your incapable of life for the next few hours?” I laughed and was thankful he offered. I would have liked to watch television with him when eating our meal, but I just went up in my room and ate at my desk. This was pretty depressing. Our obsession with high pace and progress has taken over. The rest of the night I just read Microbiology and Organic Chemistry, which eventually put me to sleep and ended my plastic challenge. The next day I woke up and ran down to a long, warm shower thankful that it was over.

This experience definitely made obvious our dependence on plastics in every aspect of our daily lives. It was unbelievable how many times I felt for my phone and mp3 player throughout the day. It’s actually a bit concerning that I, along with American society, have such a high dependency on technology and plastic.

Side note: When I turned on my phone I had a nasty message on my phone from my mother about how I refused to answer her phone calls all day. I guess I forgot to alert some important people that I wouldn’t have contact with them for twenty four hours.