project plastic overhaul: final thoughts

I found my personal project to be quite challenging. In fact, to be truly transparent, I am sitting here working feverishly to finish up a lot of projects for the end of the semester. And, as I sit here in my shared office space in the MSB-II building, working on blogs, grading papers, and  making adjustments to presentations, I have one of these sitting next to me: 

Yup, a plastic bottle. Exactly one of the main things I pledged to do away with for the semester (and preferably forever!). 

The other day in class, Professor Brown mentioned Sarah had tweeted about a blog post where a 23-year-old had begun to live without any waste. I went to said blog post, read it, and had a little chuckle. Here's the thing, that girl was inspired by the exact same blog & book I've been raving about all semester, the Zero Waste Home blog. I couldn't help but be amused that no one in class noticed this fact.  

Honestly, though, I am truly impressed this 23-year-old met her goal so quickly. Meeting my plastic goals was a real struggle on some days. One of my bigger personal weaknesses is this: with food and drinks and sometimes clothes, I have very little self control and often make impulse purchases. And that is why this project was so challenging for me! 

I can easily say no to the plastic trinkets and decorations, can easily conserve my use of face moisturizer, switch to bar soap or visit Bloomingfoods to fill up my honey, shampoo, conditioner, and hand soap, and can easily walk past certain items or find alternatives to certain plastic wrapped items.

But, I am terrible at planning ahead, at cooking for one, and at forcing myself to eat the veggies at home when someone asks if I want to grab dinner. I am horrible at walking past that vending machine when I got 5 hours of sleep and I want the quick caffeine or sugar fix. When everything else is my life is dictated by a schedule set by another person, when I can't get in my runs or bike rides or even walking my dog, I CAN get some feel good endorphins from that sugar and caffeine. And, so, I do. 

I've always had quite the sweet tooth and enjoyed my caffeinated pop. But, since starting grad school it has spiraled outta control. I had hoped to reign it back in with this project and self-imposed limits to buying less plastic. Some weeks I succeeded, but other weeks (like this one) I failed miserably.  

Regardless, most weeks I did hit my goal of purchasing 50% less plastic than I purchased the first week of class through some highlighted actions noted below.
Successes:

• Finding bulk dog treats in Bloomington
• Finding refillable shampoo, conditioner, and soap at Bfoods
• Replacing my plastic razor 
• Buying only tortilla chips that came in a brown paper bag with a small plastic window 
• Decreasing purchases of plastic wrapped cheese 
• Visiting Bfoods for plastic free salad bar and hot bar to-go food
• Only buying 5 plastic wrapped cookies/donuts at SPEA (compared to a daily cookie last year)
• Forgoing plastic straws
• Reusing my same plastic container for the olive bar
• Purchasing more fresh, non-plastic wrapped veggies at the store & farmers' market 

In situations where I have ended up with plastic unexpectedly, I have tried to make the most of it. I ordered a shirt from online and used the plastic packaging to take out some trash today (Kleenex, mostly, I wish I could get more on-board with reusable handkerchiefs or tissues). The few times I've purchased meat, I've gone to the counter to purchase it so it will be wrapped in paper - instead of a plastic-wrapped styrofoam container. One weekend, my mom visited and brought a locally sourced roast, from which we made a pot roast in the crock pot with only non-plastic wrapped veggies, including sweet potatoes, white potatoes, onion, and carrots. 

Fails: 

• Occasionally (but rarely) forgetting my reusable grocery sacks
• Succumbing to food/caffeine cravings at the vending machine
•  Making online purchases and simply hoping the packaging would be "greener"
• Purchasing plastic wrapped candy or lots of yogurt

One weekend, I went tailgating and took cheap OJ in a plastic container.  I arrived to the shindig without any cups for people to pour their drink it.  I didn't even think of it. Soon, a friend showed up later with "red solo cups". I was so mad at myself - I have plenty of cheap, but reusable, plastic cups at my apartment. I rarely use them, opting for glass cups instead, but that would have been the perfect place for using them. 

Forgetting my reusable sacks wasn't the end of the world. My roommate and I only use a small under-the-sink trashcan. Unfortunately, collectively, we are far from zero-waste and so we do use the plastic grocery bags for trash bags. 

Would I like to change this? Well, yes. But, certain things are out of my control. I cannot force other people to reduce their trash or consumption. I can only educate people about my reasons for reducing my plastic (and in general my waste), try to make it more of a social norm, and work for policy level changes to implement certain ideas.

Case-in-point, if plastic bags were banned in Indiana, I would be fine with it. I would find an alternative to our current trash set-up. But, I personally think reusable grocery bags are still quite the novelty in Indiana. Even my own mother will not use them - despite my pleas, despite my leveling with her about my own occasional fails, despite my attempts to make it a norm. Basically, this is a place I think policy changes are necessary to facilitate quick, widespread change. And, that goes for many plastic wrapped things. Here's the thing: I literally cannot purchase cauliflower from a grocery store. I've yet to find it not wrapped in plastic. Why is that the norm?? 


So What's next?

• Use Winter break to solidify certain habits, like purchasing more fresh foods and learning some recipes to increase eating from/at home
• Move toward less waste overall - not just less plastic -- How?
1. Begin Composting 
2. Make less unnecessary purchases 
3. When purchasing, seek out second hand items 
4. When purchasing new items, pay attention to clothing (not brand) labels - is the item made of more natural fibers? (A recent scientific publication noted the high amount of plastic waste from synthetic fibers)
• Dispose of other plastic items in my life - think personal care products, e.g. make-up, face wash, lotion, pens, office supplies, magnets, cleaning products - and replace them with at least more sustainable options

  

  Plastic pens that are now out of ink.
  I've replaced them with a metal pen with refillable ink.

Now that this blog post is pretty much a novel, I just want to say this project has taught me a lot. I've learned how hard it is to change ingrained habits - and I want to change. And, I've discovered preparation is key to success.  I think I'd have been more successful or felt more successful if I'd been more prepared. Finally, I am excited to continue stretching my boundaries to see how far I, personally, can go with "Zero Waste" idea.