Realizations from A Day Without

Jasmine Jolitz

Section 312 - Emma S.

When I first read over the assignment for this plastics challenge, I thought it would be humorous and interesting to see if I could actually go a day without using plastics (although admittedly, the humor I initially experienced was due to the magnitude of effort this project would require). I planned on using natural sunlight as an alarm (not counting the shades I had to open the night before to let the light in), no clothes found in plastic storage which limited my clothes selection to what was in my wooden dresser, no toiletries since all of my products were plastic packaged (let's not talk about what that means for hygiene), no preparing food from plastic wrapped packaging - just at this point I realized how incredibly difficult it would be to eliminate all plastic use, but I decided to attempt this task anyway.

Attempt #1: November 23rd, 2010

My first attempt at a day without using any product with plastics did not go as I had hoped. I went to bed early the night before in hopes of waking up on time for my ten o'clock class without an alarm clock, managed to sleep on my couch which didn't have a plastic covered mattress to sleep on, used blankets without any polyester - to say the least, I felt pretty proud of my preparations for my day without plastics. But, early bedtime and other preparations in this case were not sufficient enough to stop myself from being woken up by the blaring alarm clock on my dresser -- I had failed the plastics challenge, and I hadn't even started my day yet!

After my failed attempt at a day without plastics, I decided to track my plastic use of a typical school day to see exactly how many plastic products I use over the course of one day (I generally ignored plastics in flooring or other plastics in the buildings and also multiple uses of objects, like light switch on, light switch off.) The goal of tracking my use of plastics was to see if I could reduce my use any unnecessary plastic products in the future.

List of typical plastic product use in one school day:

1. Plastic in the mattress I was sleeping on and the covers I was using (polyester)
2. Alarm Clock
3. Breakfast: plastics in refrigerator, plastic plate, plastic packaging around bagel, packaging for orange juice
4. Plastic on key chain and lanyard
5. Light switch
6. Toothbrush, toothpaste, floss, and mouth wash packaging
7. Comb
8. Plastic on key chain and lanyard to reenter dorm room
9. Plastic hangers for clothes and coat
10. Polyester and elastic in clothes (Coat, shirt, etc.)
11. Rubberized coating on bottom of shoes
12. Cell phone
13. Backpack (made from 75% recycled plastic bottles) and zippers
14. Plastic chair to sit in during class
15. Plastic table to sit at during class
16. Binder for class
17. Even my reusable metal water bottle had a plastic cap on it
18. Pens used in class
19. Plastic ID card to enter dorms
20. Plastic on keychain and lanyard
21. Computer (for reading online class materials)
22. Plastic chair used to sit at desk
23. Printer (for class assignments)
24. Plastic coverings on internet cord and power cord to my computer
25. Plastic headphones during computer use
26. Repeat backpack, binder, and pens used in transport to class
27. Plastic table used in class
28. Repeat student ID to enter dorms
29. Plastic on key chain and lanyard
30. TV, probably some plastic in the couch I was sitting on somewhere

Just to insert a sense of time into this list, all these products were used by 2:00 in the afternoon. I woke up at around 9:00AM, and over the course of about 5 hours, I had used well over 50 plastic products, probably more since I didn't count a lot of the plastics just in the buildings where I attended class. By this point, I found it actually annoying to continue with tracking my plastic activities, maybe because I was frustrated and appalled by how much plastic I had used already but, mostly because I would have encountered many of the same plastics. I would have had to include plastics used in preparation for my biology lab, plus the plastics in the lab equipment during lab, then plastics used when going to dinner in the dorms (tray, packaging, etc.), and then all the plastics used in just being hygienic in my preparations for sleep (shampoo bottle, conditioner, my shower tote, toothbrush, etc.). So put simply, I'm sure I use at least 1 plastic product every 5 minutes or so on average.

Now, after having attempted a day without plastics, I found it to be anything but humorous. I was actually shocked and frightened to see how much plastic I use in one day, how much planning it takes to go a day without plastics, and how few alternatives there are to many plastic products; however, the most terrifying aspect about this assignment was that I often used plastics without even knowing it - plastics not only invaded my living space, food products, and classrooms, it also invaded my subconscious! It was after this realization, I began to notice that many of the structures we have established in our modern daily lives require plastics not only because of choice but also other outside forces requiring the use. Whether it is plastic packaging on foods for sanitation by law, or using plastic products like cell phones and computers to do homework or to communicate - plastics are interwoven into our modern lifestyles and don't seem to be going anywhere anytime soon. Therefore, I have decided to let the insanely large amount of plastic use our society uses to not get to me as much, and just focus on eliminating plastic use in smaller doses. Eliminating the unnecessary uses are going to be the most promising in reducing overall plastic use like eliminating use of plastic water bottles for an alternative like a Nalgene that yes it may be plastic, but its purpose is for multiple uses rather than single use. So after my failed attempt and subsequent assessment of my plastic use, I must say although I am still frightened by what all of this plastic use will mean for our society in the near future, at least I have made the first few steps in realizing how much of our plastic use is created by forces outside of our control (like online homework leading to computer use) and those forces we can control (convenience over reuse). Now, with this knowledge I have gained from the "Day Without Plastics" assignment, I can create a starting point for a lifelong journey with fewer plastics.