Figure 1: 2 Days of Disposable Plastics
When our class was first informed of our final project for the semester, I figured it would be an easy assignment.Track your disposable plastic usage for two days and go one day without using disposable plastics. Well, the first portion of this assignment was easy but it did open my eyes as to the amount of disposable plastic I used in a two day period. everything from the soap and shampoo containers to shopping bags and food containers all use disposable plastics. The biggest surprise to me during this two day period would have been opening my fridge to assess what was wrapped in plastic. Everything, literally everything in my fridge has some kind of disposable plastic as a component to its packaging besides the eggs which are contained in a 100% recycled paper container. Then I looked in the freezer, and just like the fridge every item of food was wrapped in plastic. So, this made this assignment a little harder when I had to go one day without using disposable plastics. Some preparation was in store in order to consume foods not contained within plastic and use any consumer product that does not contain disposable plastic. A picture of some of the alternatives I used are shown below as Figures 2 and 3.
Figure 2: Canned Alternatives
Figure 3: Cardboard/Paper Alternatives
As you can see from the previous images, easy alternatives which I turned to were canned goods and items contained in cardboard and did not use plastic bags within the cardboard. It is important to note that I was not able to find a non plastic alternative for the soap and shampoo containers for the one day.
This assignment has been beneficial to myself throughout the process of documenting the disposable plastics I use and attempting to eliminate them from everyday use. The experience combined with the lessons learned within Environmental Issues as to the effects of plastic on the environment has shed light onto what I can contribute to begin cleaning up the planet through our actions. Blogging is a step in the right direction in order to express our ideas to a large community of like-minded individuals. However more attention must be brought to the public in regards to the consequences of their actions when disposable plastics are used. This means creating localized organizations responsible for promoting recycling which reduces the amount of new plastic entering the production lines and less plastic in landfills around the world. Likewise we need to express our concerns to big corporations and politicians in order to prevent further plastics from being produced. Although plastics are a cheaper alternative to other paper products, the effect disposable plastics have on the future of this Earth through contamination of cleaning drinking water becomes much more valuable as clean sources of drinking water become harder to find. This project has altered the way I view everyday life. I have gone from the out of site, out of mind mindset to understanding that plastic's lifespan does not end once I place it in the trash bag. I hope this post will alter the way you manage the quantity of disposable plastics you use as it has for me and than you for reading!
-Zach Ackerman
Looks like a lot of your food alternatives were similar to mine. I substituted a bar of soap for the disposable plastic bottles. Although many bars do come in plastic wrapped cardboard.
ReplyDeleteRyan W.
Nice post!
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