Justin Daavettila
3300

I have been living off campus at Tech for a year and a half now and the amount of plastics we use everyday in incredible.I live with my brothers and with three boys in the house trash fills up fast. We use plastic cups and a lot of plastic silverware because, we do not have a dish washer at our house and it is a lot easier just to throw the cup or silverware away when you are done with it as opposed to washing it by hand.  This project got me to look at the trash a little more and a majority of the trash in our bin is plastic, even the garbage bags!   The photo is missing many everyday plastics such as the toothpaste tube, and other toiletries.

Day 1:  In the morning I woke up and had a bowl of cereal before I went off to school, the milk cartoon and the bag in which the cereal is held is plastic. After a long day at school, I picked up a Little Caesars on my way home. Little Caesars can I a cardboard box but I got a pop to drink with my pizza. The bottle was plastic but in our household we try and recycle our pop bottles and cans. Later that evening I had a couple bagels with cream cheese. The bag in which the bagels come in is plastic, and the container which  the cream cheese comes in is plastic.

Day 2: Day two of my experiment came on a Saturday. I woke up and made myself a breakfast which consisted of eggs and toast. I went out for dinner that evening so the only thing I had collected that was plastic was the straw that came with my meal. Although I am pretty sure food at the restaurant was wrapped in plastic before it was cooked. Saturday night I picked up a movie. The case which the movie was held is plastic. After the two days of paying attention to the disposable plastic I use I realizes how difficult it would be to go a full day without  using any disposable plastic. The project really got me looking at the trash we throw away.


I did not realize the amount of disposable plastic we go through in our household of only three boys. Almost every meal you eat there is disposable plastic that you throw away without thinking about the harm you put on the environment by not recycling. I believe many more people would recycle if there was a easier way too. In the city of Houghton I would have no idea what to do with my disposable plastics if I did want to recycle them. It is difficult to recycle when there is a process you have to go though to recycle. Going to school and working I just do not have the time to be driving across town to bring a bag of disposable plastics to the dump or the transfer station.

Ditching Discardable Plastics (Stephen Mack)

Day 1: It is not easy in the modern world to go without any plastic products. This material is so deeply woven into the fabric of society that we have come to depend on it over the natural alternatives of the past. Upon hearing about this assignment I began to think about how my day would change. The biggest part I needed to plan for was my eating arrangements. Food companies now try to package nearly everything once or more so I needed to plan to eat fresh food from the supermarket. I do not do this often so just in case I decided to get fancy I downloaded a cookbook app for my ipad. In the past I have never been much of a cook so this would be my biggest challenge. I tend to be a convenience oriented buyer, so another challenge for me was to steer clear of convenience stores unless I was purchasing a can of soda. For breakfast I ate at Suomi’s Restaurant as it was on my walk to school. There was no problem here except that I knew I would not be able to take any extra food home. My day went on pretty normally, I made sure to only write in pencil or an expensive pen. When I stirred my coffee I was unable to use the plastic stir sticks which were available and instead I used my pencil. Towards the end of the day I was getting hungry and decided to eat at the dining hall. Here I did not have to worry about using disposable plastics at all. Later that night, my friends and I were hanging out and I needed a light for my cigarette. My friend was about to light me up when I told him no, I cannot use his BIC lighter due to my experiment. So, he used his refillable butane torch and that was the end of that. My walk home did not consume any plastic and neither did my preparation for bed. Day one was not too bad.

 : 2 day plastic use by my family

: an easy alternative to this problem. Recycle!

Day 2: Today was much like the last. Luckily I am not much of a breakfast person so when I woke up late and had to run out the door it was ok. On my walk into school I decided to pass on breakfast as I was short on time. After my first class I went to the dining halls and did not come across a temptation to use discardable plastic. This is my favorite thing about the dining halls. The convenience is unmatched and the quality is not that of a convenience store. After that I had a few classes in which I needed to barrow a pencil as all I had was a pen. Luckily I was very preoccupied with school these last two days so I did not do much other than type and write with my pencil. Upon entering the biology learning center I was about to help myself to a complimentary cup of coffee when I noticed all they had were Styrofoam cups. This was against my experiment so I had to turn it down. Instead I walked over to the MUB and got myself a Redbull. After consuming my drink I recycled it in a school bin. I left campus sort of late that day, missed my ride home and was faced with walking home in the cold.

Overall this challenge made me realize that I am too busy with school lately. Reading other people’s blog entries I see many other instances of using plastic simply because others were out and about more than myself. If I were on a normal day, I am sure I would have used more discardable plastics. One instance I later realized was that when I showered and brushed my teeth in the morning, I could not help but use the discardable plastics the cleaning supplies were in. At least I did not have to discard them this time around. I know that I use lots of these plastics. Even though Houghton does not recycle, I keep a pile going for when I can stop at campus and dump it with them.

Final Project: Disposable Plastic Use (Eric Pointer)

I’ll start off by saying that like most of you I was surprised to see how much disposable plastic I used on a daily basis.  However, unlike what I see many of you saying here, I was surprised at how small the amount was that I used over the course of two days.  Now this could be coincidence, and unfortunately I didn’t think to do this experiment while I was home over break, but I would like to think otherwise. 

Plastic Use

I had a total of four plastic grocery bags (the Wal-Mart bag has two others inside it), one zip-lock sandwich bag, and one plastic bag from some candy I happened to finish one of the two days.  This clearly isn’t a negligible amount, however I had expected it would be much more.

I grew up in a household where I was constantly taught, as far back as I can remember, to reuse as much as possible.  Everything from paper grocery bags, to plastic food containers, to plastic silverware, even the plastic bag the Sunday paper was delivered in.  Furthermore if you couldn’t reuse it, we seldom had it around.  Paper plates, for example, were almost never used around my house.  Now to some of you this may seem a bit harsh, but it was never like that.  I wouldn’t be scolded for using disposable items or anything like that.  I was really just taught by example. 

As much as possible I try to look for ways to reuse disposable items, especially plastic ones, at least once and I certainly recycle as much as possible.  Grocery bags are a great example.  Both paper and plastic grocery bags are great to use for trash bags.  Up at school here where Wal-Mart is my typical grocery location I get many plastic grocery bags that work well for lining small trash bins around the house.  This works well not only to keep my trash bins clean, but also because my trash collector won’t take anything that’s not bagged.  Reusing these grocery bags prevents me from having to buy other disposable plastic bags literally for the purpose of throwing them away.  Back home our kitchen trash is designed to hold a paper grocery bag.  We don’t put a bag in each trash bin at home, in order to reduce the use of unnecessary plastic, so paper grocery bags also work great to collect trash from each bin around the house on trash day.

Unfortunately I accumulate grocery bags much faster than I can reuse and dispose of them.  Luckily the plastic bags are recyclable at certain grocery stores, but this is definitely an area that I could reduce my use of disposable plastic.  The image below shows the [few] solutions I used to reduce my disposable plastic usage.  I don’t use plastic zip-lock bags often, but for the times that I do a reusable Tupperware container offers a sustainable alternative.  Grocery bags are my real issue.  The little black pouch happens to be a compact, reusable grocery bag that I got for free at a basketball game.  Using bags like these helps cut down on my use of disposable grocery bags.  I can definitely say it will take some time to get used to remembering to bring these bags when I go grocery shopping, but I'm sure it will become habit eventually.

Solutions

Plastics Challenge by Amna Zahid

I took the plastics challenge during thanksgiving break. We were pretty astonished to see the heap of discardable plastics my friends and I used in just one day. We had a party on Thanksgiving day and we ended up using disposable plastic cups, spoons, knives and forks. I think the major reasons why people prefer using the discardable plastics are the convenience of using them and that they’re very cheap. Also many people feel that it’s much more hygienic to use the discardable plastic cutlery and glasses than used ones.

It was interesting to look for plastics around us because we found it in places we never paid attention to. It’s amazing to see how much plastics we use daily. We found plastics in food packaging’s which ultimately are thrown away after use. Drinks are commonly sold in plastic bottles because it’s lighter. Almost all of the cosmetic and sanitation products we use are mostly packaged in plastics such as creams, shampoos, deodorants, makeup etc. and after use they’re always tossed out. Another thing I was concerned about was my toothbrush and dental floss that was also made out of plastic. I looked up online and found that our toothbrushes and dental flosses are toxic too. Here is one link of the many I found about the dangers of using plastic toothbrushes and dental flosses:

  http://www.redicecreations.com/article.php?id=25110

It was scary to realize this because we use toothbrush and floss multiple times every day and the toxins have a very easy route to enter our bodies. Also, it’s amazing that we don’t have other non-plastic toothbrush options available easily. At least I didn’t find any in Walmart etc. The same link I shared above has some alternate safer options shared at the bottom of the link that you can buy online. I’m definitely considering to buy one of those. Honestly, I find it frustrating that the safer options are not easily available for us. I think if using the plastic toothbrush is dangerous to us then at least dentists should spread awareness about it because it has such a close connection with our bodies.

I also found that most medicines, cough syrups and vitamin tablets are also sold in plastic containers. I wonder if that is of concern and that if it actually contaminates the medicines at all.

Another common thing used is the plastic wrap and/or plastic sandwich bags. I will admit, I’m so addicted to using these just because it’s very easy to pack lunches and other items. I hardly ever thought of the environmental impacts of using plastic wraps. Another thing that I commonly use are the plastic grocery bags because it’s easy to reuse them as trash bags. I don’t even know if there are non-plastic options for trash bags.

For alternatives, I used cloth bags for groceries and ceramic mug and stainless steel bottle for drinks. Personally, I felt it was a difficult challenge just because the alternates are not easily available and/or are expensive. It does make one wonder how this will affect us in the long run.

I think overall I really liked the challenge as it helped me to pay close attention to plastics around me. It’s definitely a great exercise for every individual. I was thinking it would be interesting if this challenge goes viral and we get to see people all over the globe post pictures of their alternatives to plastics. This will give other people more ideas and will be interesting to see how plastic consumption compares among different countries.

Going Without...Ryan Werner

Ryan Werner
SS3300

After two days of disposable plastic collection it became apparent that most of my disposable plastic use is related to my food consumption. Much of the food that I consume has at least some plastic packaging. I will admit the pile of plastic in my picture below is probably less than it normally would be. I had just went grocery shopping and I tend to buy in bulk so many packages were not emptied during the days I was collecting.

               The amount of disposable plastic that I encounter on a daily basis is astounding. I had to change up my routine considerably in order to remove disposable plastic use. Some of the changes I had to make are listed below.

·        I switched to bars of soap instead of bottles in the shower and at the sinks.

·        I had to cut out my normal cereal breakfast as both cereal and milk come in plastic containers.

·        For lunch I could no longer have a sandwich with yogurt.  Instead I would have to make soup from a can or pasta from a box.

·        Even cooking was difficult as all of the meat in my freezer is wrapped in plastic. Leaving me only canned chicken for meat during this project. Even worse was that all spices are contained in plastic so I couldn’t use them to flavor up any of my meals.

·        I did cheat as I brushed my teeth with a plastic toothbrush and used toothpaste from a plastic tube. The box of noodles that I bought prior to starting the experiment had a small plastic viewing window and, I elected to continue taking my vitamin supplements so I did not become ill so close to finals.

Overall, the most surprising thing to me about this whole experience was how expensive it would be to cut disposable plastic from my life. Even during just two days I noticed how expensive and nearly impossible it is to eat food that is not packaged in plastic. Just buying food becomes more expensive as I would have to buy my own bags. The food that you can purchase is generally either canned or in boxes. This project resulted in a loss of quality of the food I consumed and led me to appreciate my normal eating habits even more. (I will say that Houghton is not a great place to conduct this experiment as there is not a large green culture here as in other places I have lived. In Denver I am sure I could have shopped at stores that would not have used plastic packaging.)

                After two days without disposable plastic it became apparent that not only would it be extremely difficult to cut it from my life but it would be expensive. Without sweeping changes to not only how products are packaged but to our own attitudes toward plastic use and disposal I believe it would be nearly impossible to cut disposable plastic from our lives and still maintain the same standard of living. 

Kim Wittig

Over my thanksgiving break, I went home to Green Bay, Wisconsin. Throughout much of the break, I was around the state visiting with different family members and friends. I hardly had any time to sit and relax! However, during the nights I was usually home to observe the amount of plastic my family members and I use within my household.

The first night, I had seen my dad eating snacks. The beer dip was in a plastic container, the chips were in a plastic bag, the peanut butter was in a plastic jar, as well as the jelly, and the bread had been wrapped in a plastic bag. Also, the food within my pantry, refrigerator, and freezer had also come into contact at some point. This could be whether it was contained or wrapped in it, or how it go to my house in a plastic bag or crate on the way to the grocery store.

During this night, I also saw that the soaps and wipes in my laundry room my mom had used to do laundry were in plastic containers; this even includes the basket in which the clothes came out of! My sister’s chemistry lab manual was bound by a plastic ring binding. In order to see all of this, my glasses were also plastic to top it all off after I took my contacts out and put them into a plastic container using solution out of a plastic bottle. Before bed, the toothbrush I used was plastic as well as the bottle containing my toothpaste. The make-up remover I had used also came out of a plastic bottle.

The next morning, almost everything eaten for breakfast had come into contact with plastic in my house. The milk my family had, the water I drank, the bagels, and cream cheese. The television we watched has more plastic than imaginable in it, as well as the computer we challenged the show’s logic on. Sometimes the prices they give for certain items seem like way too much! Also, we had decorated the Christmas tree this day. Many ornaments hung had been plastic amongst the lights with plastic as well strung along the branches.

As far as going days without any plastic, it is not an easy task to accomplish. I used paper bags at the grocery store rather than plastic bags and rather than drinking water from water bottles, I chose to fill my own reusable bottle from the tap or drank glass Snapple. Instead of plastic Christmas ornaments, we hung glass. Rather than using a plastic laundry basket, we used the bag. We used ceramic plates rather than plastic, staples rather than plastic binding, and a glass jar rather than Tupperware. For items used on a daily basis, it is not always that difficult to find a non-plastic alternative. However, it is sometimes less convenient to do so with these items. 

The large, top picture and the top two on the right-hand side are some of the plastics my family and I had used in the two days and the bottom two pictures are then the alternatives we had used, or thought about!

Ditch Discardable Plastics Sean Forsberg

Sean Forsberg,
SS3300

At the beginning of this project I had never really put much thought into how much plastic I toss out on a daily basis, after 2 days I realized it was a lot.  Neither my roommates or I do much cooking so most nights we eat take out, the food often comes in either plastic or polystyrene containers these  make up a majority of the trash we amass. Second would be bottles, I don’t drink much pop personally however I do buy a bottle of Aquafina or Dasani a few times a week and my roommates (whose plastic wasn't in the picture) both use many more bottles.

Admittedly I didn’t do the best job in collecting the plastics, I have a coffee from the holiday gas station on my commute to campus most days but I did not want to carry around an empty coffee cup all day. However when I began doing some research for the second part of this project I found out that the Holiday coffee cups are made of polystyrene which has been shown to leach styrene into hot drinks. Needless to say after I found this out I stopped using their coffee cups and bought a Bubba mug from Walmart, which is DES free and made of High Density Polyethylene a highly recyclable plastic. I also purchased a water bottle which was guaranteed DES free and made from HDPE, and both have proven well worth the money.