Plastic Free! Hanna Dehnert Section 302

I decided to attempt a Plastic Free Day on November 20, 2010 while I was at our home in Phoenix, Arizona. I wanted to do it while here to make it easier on myself because there are a lot less of my things here, including plastic things. Before my plastic free day even started I was nervous because every aspect of my day uses some sort of plastic. Luckily I did not have very busy plans for the day so I did not have to sacrifice using an enormous amount of plastic. So here is my day…

Morning:

I knew it was going to be difficult to try and spend a whole day without using any plastic but I have just woken up and already found it almost impossible. First off I could not use my alarm clock so luckily I decided to attempt this challenge on a day that I could sleep in. My mom eventually woke me up so I did not have to depend on an alarm, from either my actual clock or my phone, which are both made of plastic. Also since all my light switches and lamps have plastic knobs to turn them on I had to rely on the sun. Luckily, it is sunny in Arizona, especially today, so I was able to function with the amount of light in my room coming through the windows.

For breakfast my parents made pancakes. I know it may be cheating a little bit but since I did not cook anything I did not personally use any of the plastic on the fridge, stove and other appliances. I used a glass plate, metal silverware and a glass cup with water in it. I could not drink my usual orange juice because that was in a plastic container. I also had a banana because that did not come from any plastic, like many other fruits that my parents served. After breakfast when I went to get ready I could not take a shower because of the plastic in it. I then could not brush my teeth or hair and could not use any cosmetics or shampoo and conditioner. Disappointing. However, since I am not in Madison I won’t see anyone I know besides my parents so I guess I will deal with not showering for a while and looking grubby. I made sure that none of the clothes I wore had polar fleece or other synthetic fabrics that could have plastic in them.

Midday:

My parents are watching the Badgers beat Michigan on TV; however, since the TV and remote have plastic I am just sitting reading a book for class. I will admit I look up on occasion because I want to know how the Badgers are doing, but I am trying my best to by plastic free. This book is made from paper so it passes the plastic free test and I don’t wear glasses so fortunately I don’t have to worry about those being plastic. Lunch on the other hand is a concern for me because I cannot really find an item of food that is at this house, not in the fridge, that doesn’t have some kind of plastic connection. I am also trying not to open soup cans because I would have to use a plastic can opener or the can might have BPA in a lining. So I am cheating a little by having Macaroni and Cheese for lunch. The only plastic I have used is turning on the stove, opening the fridge to get the milk and butter, which I think is pretty good.

We then went to a local mall to do some shopping. I definitely saw a lot of plastic- plastic hangers, plastic bags, fleece tops, and plastic connecting price tags to items. So I practiced being plastic free by browsing and not shopping for things with plastic in or on them. I did have to ride in the car there so that involved some plastic because of the cars construction.

Night:

For dinner we went to P. F. Changs restaurant with my grandmother. This is probably not a very plastic free choice; however, none of the items I ordered or ate had any plastic with them and everything was served on glass plates. I am guessing things were packaged in plastic back in the kitchen but I did not see that so I am not counting it with my challenge. Actually now that I think about it I did use a straw in my water glass which is plastic. Darn. Other than that, the fortune cookie at the end of the meal was wrapped in plastic but I didn’t eat one because of that. After dinner I did have to take the car back home, as I did all day. There is definitely plastic in different places in the car. Getting back home, my parents want to watch a DVD but those are made of plastic so I decided to just keep reading my book before I go to bed. So I think my day without plastic was not a tremendous success but it did open my eyes to the abundance o plastic around me.

All in all, I don’t think it would be easy or possible to live without any plastics unless there is a major overhaul of our society. Everywhere I look there is some sort of plastic object or part of an object. Plastic has become intertwined and overwhelmingly important in everyday life. Without it most people would not be able to function because there are countless things taken for granted that would not be as convenient or cheap if made of other materials. This challenge were make me think twice when getting plastic bags from stores or buying plastic products that can be made of other things.