One Day Of Plastic

Good morning, Refusers. My husband wrote this piece for me, after deciding to embark on the daunting task of logging every bit of contact he had with plastic in just one day. Thanks for reading, and thank you, Ernie, for your dedication to Refusing!

"As my Friday came to an end, I laid in bed discussing with my wife the events of our day. Our words during those last moments before I fall asleep are often what motivate me throughout the next day. Megan had spent her day working with the Refuse page to try and bring more awareness to the topic of plastics in our daily lives. As I fell asleep that night, I decided I would find out exactly how much plastic has infiltrated my daily life by keeping a log of everything plastic that I come into contact with. I would log only the items that I personally touched and write them down only once.

I awoke the next morning, and before I could even leave the bed, I realized I had on a watch with a plastic armband. *Sigh* Obviously I needed to immediately get started with my list. After some morning kisses from Megan I began my day and started my log. I quickly found myself touching several items multiple times, over and over it seemed like- such as the keyboard or mouse. Megan suggested I put a tick mark aside these items. It became clear to me that my day would be completely hindered by the constant need to write down items I had touched. 

By 9 a.m. I had already touched 51 different plastic items, many of them multiple times. I also became aware that a high percentage of the plastic items were found in the kitchen and amongst our food and drink items. 

My day ended with 124 items. As it was Saturday, we went out for dinner. When we arrived home I tried to think of all the plastic items I had touched during our outing, but I am sure there were many things I missed. I didn’t want to disturb our dinner guests with my list, nor was I involved with the production of our meals.

To be sure- I was not ready for this challenge and did not think it would consume as much time as it did. After months of clearing our home/work place of as much plastic as we can, I find that we have not even started. 

Should you embark on a similar challenge to find out your personal plastic footprint, I commend you and at the same time do not envy you. 

Good luck and Refuse."