Plastic Use in Two Days- Kelley Littlefield

By: Kelley Littlefield
To my surprise, I used way more disposable plastics than I thought I would use in two days.  They are everywhere! I found that the majority of the disposable plastics I use includes plastics that might be recyclable but are difficult to actually recycle and rarely ever are.  Some of these items include toothbrushes, toothpaste, makeup, lotion, soap, and food containers.  All of which are used over a relatively long period of time or can be re-used over and over again.  Within the two day period I monitored my disposable plastic use, I did not throw away many of these items either.  The only items I threw away were food packaging that was unable to be reused.  I like to think of myself as an environmentally friendly human being.  I guess my effort to “go green” isn’t really paying off.  In the picture below, you can see my plastic use for two days.  On the left are plastics that I use more than once, such as toiletries.  I count these as disposable even though some can be recycled because I have never thought to recycle them or never actually do when I am done using them.  On the right are single-use plastic packaging that came with food that I purchased.  I thought I ate relatively healthy, but based on the amount of plastic packaging that comes with the food, I am not so sure if I do anymore!

Avoiding disposable plastics for two days was pretty easy.  Prior to this project, on days I went to the grocery store or shopping, I usually obtained plenty of plastic bags.  I always make sure to reuse them as garbage bags and the extras go back to the recycling container at the store.  Although I did not go to the store at all these two days, I put some reusable grocery bags in my car for future use.  I have owned reusable grocery bags for quite some time, but never failed to forget them every single time I actually went to the store. It will take time to get into the habit, but it will be worthwhile.  The giant pile of plastic bags from the grocery store that collects over time will not be missed! It is nearly impossible to avoid plastic toiletry containers, unless I did not want to brush my teeth or shower for a couple days (no thanks!), so I didn’t avoid those plastics in these two days.  Not using single-use plastic packaging at all challenged me to eat more fresh foods and less processed foods.  It is really difficult to find foods without plastic wrapping these days.  Below are some items that I can use to replace the disposable plastics in my daily life.  I always use reusable water bottles and even own a reusable bag made of plastic bottles that I will be using as a grocery bag from now on.  I also found makeup that comes in cardboard rather than plastic. And another solution to all the plastic lip balm tubes is to make your own! I made my own lip balm awhile ago, but it is simple and inexpensive and the containers can be reused.

Through some research on disposable plastics that are difficult to recycle (because that seemed to be the biggest problem with my disposable plastics), I found a really cool website for group collection of plastics. TerraCycle is an “upcycling and recycling company that collects difficult-to-recycle packaging and products and repurposes the material into affordable, innovative products” (TerraCycle.com).  I may have to get an organization I am involved in to join a recycling brigade.  I encourage everyone to try avoiding disposable plastics as much as possible. It’s a small change that can make a big difference.

On another note… Next semester I will be in Costa Rica. I am interested in the amount of disposable plastics that people use there and will hopefully blog about it in the near future.