Plastic Awareness - Surbhi Thakur

Let’s be honest. Without plastic society would be crippled.

Plastic makes modern life possible. It is responsible for things such as transportation, storage, food, shelter, electronics, communication, clothing, and many more. Things that many of us take for granted and never really notice how much life revolves around those things.

During the two days where I observed closely how much disposable plastic I use, I soon realized that I made a large underestimation on my consumption of disposable plastic. Just within the first five minutes of waking up, plastic is involved in my life. Shampoo, conditioner, body wash, mouthwash, toothpaste, floss, and toothbrush containers are all made of plastic. Plastics that will be thrown in the trash within four to five weeks. After those weeks these items will again be repurchased and the the cycle will continue.

For lunch I went to a fast food restaurant (If you count Subway as fast food. People say it’s healthy, but I say LIES!) and all the food there was wrapped in plastic. My sandwich was wrapped in a plastic paper that was wrapped in another plastic paper which was then put inside a plastic bag. My ¼ bag of chips and ¾ bag of air was made of plastic. Even my plastic straw was wrapped in a plastic wrapper. Do straws even need to be wrapped? Holy crap, I walked out of there with more plastic than food.

The next day I had lunch at the “Delicious” MUB. Here I again got a sandwich that was stored a plastic container. Not as much plastic as Subway, but still a good amount. The one thing I noticed here is that the drink cups are made of styrofoam and the plastic straws are wrapped in a paper wrapper. The MUB has plastic utensils but instead of being individually wrapped they are put into a utensil holder and you just grab however many you want.

At home I do not use much disposable plastic other than containers my food came in. Such things include milk jug, sandwich meat container, bread bag, and frozen pre cooked food. I usually also carry a small snack with me through the day, but what is that kept in? A sandwich bag that I end up throwing away and probably go through seven to eight bags a week.

Below is a picture of the disposable plastic I noticed throughout two days. Unfortunately I forgot sometimes and accidentally ended up throwing out some plastic. Ignore background items.

Food storage is pattern I noticed. Most of, if not all, my food is stored in some sort of disposable plastic. The food is even transported in a plastic bag from the store.

In the two days without using any disposable plastic, I managed to be somewhat successful. I brought my own food in reusable plastic containers and used my own silverware which I can wash at home and use again and again for eternity. I always carry a reusable water bottle with me, so that was something I did not have to change in my lifestyle.

The only thing I was not able to replace were my shower items. I could have just not bathed for two days, but I was not going to sacrifice hygiene for plastic.

Below are the items I replaced for the two days without disposable plastic.