Scott Hall

SCOTT HALL -Discardable Plastics Challenge

Prior to the start of this project I felt that I was doing a decent job avoiding disposable plastics. I use a Nalgene water bottle every day and I bring my own bags to the grocery store. I am studying environmental engineering so I try to make conscious decisions about my plastic use. 

            However, after two days of collecting all of the disposable plastics I used, I was amazed and ashamed by the amount of plastic I was putting in the garbage on a daily basis.  I live off campus so everyday I pack a lunch to bring with me to campus. I used to put every thing in separate plastic zip lock bags, and throw them out right after I was done. I was literally taking snacks from a plastic packaging at home, placing them in another plastic container and eventually discarding both of the plastics without even realizing I was multiplying my plastic use by a factor of 10. At the time is seemed like the simplest way to get food from home to school, while keeping it sanitary.

 On top of my daily lunch plastic use I also noticed all of the other disposable plastics I was throwing in the garbage. Almost every vegetable I bought from the grocery store came in its own separate plastic bag, which eventually ended up in the trash.  I threw a way an empty milk container and watched empty yogurt cups stack up in my garbage.

I hadn’t even considered alternatives to use until this project came about. So when it came time to try to go without these disposable plastics I had to get a little creative, but it really wasn’t that big of an inconvenience. Instead of packing my lunch in zip-lock baggies I chose to use reusable plastic storage dishes. Now this was a slight inconvenience because they wouldn’t all fit in my back pack so I had to bring an extra cloth bag to campus with my lunch in it.  I felt a little goofy walking around with my lunch in a separate bag all day, but by doing this I was able to eliminate close to 80% of my plastic waste.  I had a few more dishes to do each night, but other than that it was not too big of a deal.

  We live in a world today where these disposable plastics are the cheapest, cleanest, and simplest way to package and transport food. Almost everything from the grocery store comes wrapped in some sort of plastic.  The days of glass milk jugs and paper bags are fading away.  The two days without just disposable plastics was a very eye opening challenging, because all it really did was force me to rely on different types of plastics that were reusable. There is no doubt that plastics were a great invention at the time, but with todays technology we need to be looking for greener forms of this plastic because in our plastic dependent world very few people think about the consequences of their plastic pollution.

I am both nervous an excited to  attempt a whole day with out any plastics as it is going to be nearly impossible, but I am  looking forward to giving it a shot.