Plastics Challenge

Sara Otto
TA: Emma
Section: 305

For my plastics challenge, I wasn’t going to kid myself. Unless I want to lock myself in a cave for a day, there is no way I could go without coming in contact with a plastic product of some sort. Instead of going a day without plastics, I tried use the least possible amount that I could.

The day I decided to take on the plastics challenge, I had to wake up to my plastic alarm clock so I wouldn’t be late for class. I then got out of bed, and flicked on the plastic light switch. Since I live in the dorms, I grabbed my plastic bottle of shampoo, my plastic flip-flops, and a bar of soap and headed to the shower. Normally I take my shampoo, plastic conditioner bottle, plastic face wash bottle, plastic razor, plastic shaving cream tube, and plastic tote to carry it all in. Once I was in the shower, I noticed the curtain was plastic but I could not really avoid that.

After my shower, I put my plastic glasses on (instead of plastic contacts in my plastic contact case), and brushed my teeth with my plastic toothbrush and plastic toothpaste container. I used the plastic toilet. I did not use a plastic blow dryer or plastic straightener for my hair though. I avoided all makeup, since it is packaged in plastic tubes.

It was then time for breakfast. I normally eat cereal that comes in a plastic bag, and pour it in a plastic bowl, then I add milk that comes in a plastic container, so I decided to eat something else. Instead, I opened my plastic refrigerator and grabbed an apple, clementine, and a bagel that was in a paper bag.

Time for class! Instead of carrying my books in my backpack that had plastic hooks on it, I used a cloth bag. For school, I used wood pencils, instead of plastic pens and plastic mechanical pencils and plastic high lighters. My notebooks all had plastic covers so I used scratch paper instead and put it in a paper folder. Some of my textbooks seemed to have a plastic cover to protect it for water damage, so that was unavoidable. Also, I decided to walk instead of bike to class because both my bike and bike helmet had plastic parts.

During lunch, I bought tea that was in a glass bottle. After I finished drinking it, I filled it up with water and used it as a water bottle, instead of my plastic Nalgene.

In the cafeteria, I did not use a plastic tray to carry my food. The plates were all ceramic and the utensils were metal. To buy my lunch, I had to use my plastic WISCard.

For dinner, I went to the Madison Fresh Market with a friend. Once there I realized the salad bar, soup, sushi, and everything from the deli came in a plastic container. I found a roll, an apple, but that didn’t seem like a meal so I gave up and went to Coffebytes to get a sandwich and a coffee. I ate the meal in Coffeebytes so the sandwich came on a plate, and the coffee was in a ceramic mug.

When I went to the gym later, I had to put on tennis shoes that were made from plastic parts. Instead of using the plastic work out machines, I ran around the track. It is hard to say what the track was made of out though. I continued to use my glass bottle I bought earlier as my water bottle and ran without my iPod because it has plastic parts, plastic earphones, as well as a plastic case I put on. It was very uncomfortable running in my glasses though, so I cut my run short.

I didn’t watch anything on my plastic TV all day, nor did I use my computer- no facebook, e-mail, or anything. Although I could go a day without my computer, I did use my plastic phone. Overall I cut my use of plastic significantly but it made me realize how much I rely on plastic throughout my day. I will continue to be conscious about my use of plastic and try to reuse it and recycle it whenever possible.

Plastic Products I didn't use A few plastic products I used