Addicted or Victim of Circumstance

Cynthia Novak

Section 113/Vanessa Wishart

November 12, 2010

Am I addicted to plastic and don't even know it? The second I woke up and started this challenge (challenge being the key word) I knew it would be impossible. This didn't stop me from trying and here is how my day went:

4:45 -- Alarm buzzes annoyingly and I reach over for my cell phone (my alarm). I wake for a few minutes and realize my goal for the day...no plastic. Immediate fail! I excuse myself, it is early and I was not thinking.

5:00 -- Reach for my eyeglasses (can’t function without them) -- once again I fail. I convince myself again that this is not my fault, I don’t produce the eyeglasses and after all I need to be able to see.

5:05 -- oops, the toilet seat is plastic (crap -- well, not literally, but I must use the facility, so I find another excuse to use plastic in my day).

5:10 -- soap and water -- at last, I’m good (at least I’m not aware of plastic in the soap).

5:15 -- cannot brush my teeth so I will try to be creative and use a washcloth (it worked, but not quite as satisfying as my Sonic Care)...but wait, there is a plastic cap on the toothpaste...hmm.

5:30 -- find my way to my coffee. This is getting ridiculous, the machine is nearly all plastic.

At this point I realize that I am surrounded by plastic. I won’t bore you with a complete timeline, but here is a list of most everything that ends up being off limits if I am to complete this day without plastics:

• carpet in my bedroom
• cell phone/alarm
• eyeglasses
• toilet seat
• tooth brush and paste
• hair product
• hair brush
• elastic in my clothing
• coffee pot
• travel mug -- handle is plastic
• car key -- plastic cover
• my car is filled with plastic (I drive a saturn so it has more than a typical vehicle)
• the bus that I catch at the north transfer point is filled with plastic, not to mention my bus pass.
• plastic bowl for my lunch
• pens and pencils I use during class
• plastic utensils used during cooking

There are many more items I could list, but I'm sure by now you get the idea. Before this challenge, I felt good about my awareness of plastics and using less of it by doing things such as reusing ziplock bags and my travel mug. While I still feel good about my efforts, I realize I use far more plastic than I was aware. I suspect many of us are in the same boat (probably made of some type of plastic), but not because of an addiction or lack of awareness, simply because we are victims of circumstance.