Plastics Challenge

Amy Nguyen, TA: Vanessa
When I decided to take the plastics challenge, I first thoughts immediately turned to my bed and I wondered what materials it was composed of. After hearing Professor Langston state that her bed had plastic, I was sure I was going to have to sleep on the floor for the night. Sure enough, my mattress did contain small pieces of plastic, and I ended up having to sleep on the floor for the night. As I lay there, I thought of an alternative to plastics on bedding. On my mattress, small plastic pieces are sewn on purely for decorative purposes, I believe. Honestly, I do not care much for them and would actually prefer it if they were not on there because without a mattress cover I can feel them poking me.
After a decent night’s sleep, I walked into my bathroom and saw plastics galore. My toothbrush, toothpaste tube, toothbrush holder, floss container, and all cosmetic product containers all comprised entirely of plastics. This was really alarming because these are all products in which we directly introduce into our bodies, and of course toxics may have leached into the products. This is particularly alarming considering that there are few alternatives for these products. I myself have never seen a toothbrush made of anything other than plastic, so consumers do not have the option to make a more earth conscious decision if they wanted to. As far as plastic containers, glass may be a better substitute. However in terms of manufacturing and recycling, I am unsure how much more sustainable it is compared to plastics. For the sake of hygiene, though I did cheat and use these items to brush my teeth and wash my face.
My usual routine after getting ready includes packing a lunch. Normally, I would use a sandwich bag or tupperware to store my sandwich, but I had to change to aluminum foil for the day. Again, it terms of manufacturing and recycling I am unsure if the foil is more sustainable than plastics, since that tupperware is reusable. All of my snack items were all sealed in plastic packaging; so regrettably, I was unable to enjoy them. As to an alternative to plastic packaging, I am perplexed. Plastics have made our lives so convenient that it is hard to fathom what we would do without them.
As I was packing my lunch into my book bag, I immediately saw that I had plastic on the zippers of my backpack designed for easy zipping. I luckily found a spare book bag that does not contain plastics as a replacement. I also had to replace my plastic folders and notebooks. This was a pain because I originally switched from the cardboard varieties to plastic folders and notebooks because they were less durable and I found myself having to replace them every month or so.
After attempting to live a day without plastics, I am confident that plastics play an integral part of our everyday lives. It’s unrealistic to declare that everyone needs to stop using plastics because plastics are tremendously useful. I think a solution for the plastics problem should start with switching to non-plastic alternatives where it is possible and simply make conscious decisions to cut back on our dependence on plastic.