Prologue...
Well, this is it: the very first page of my new blog and at the time of writing it is exactly 3:58am. Why this project and why now? After several days of growing resolve and sleepless nights of pondering, I feel like the universe just isn't going to let me get away with not doing this one, so I've taken the plunge: I'm going to see just how long one person can go without chucking a single scrap of plastic in the bin!
I have always been a conscientious nature-lover and I have been aware of the enormous threat of plastic for many years, but in recent days I have been asking myself why I haven't made any real strides to tackle my own plastic consumption head-on? True, I recycle just about everything I can, I carry a thermos flask to eliminate the need for disposable coffee cups and I ditched single-use plastic shopping bags (even before the supermarkets started introducing the 5p charge, I'm very smug to say!)
But is all that enough? Really enough? Do I even know how much of the plastic I throw in the bin can actually be recycled? How much energy and carbon waste has to be produced in order to recycle my plastic face-cream containers and how much more so to produce such plastic goods in the first place?
The more I think about it, the more I am haunted by visions of my very own private bulging mound of plastic refuse shooting ever higher into a sky blackened with toxic fumes, with a big ugly sign on top that reads "Alice's crap", writ nice and big for all to see! (cue: sound of weeping baby Harp seals in the distance...)
Maybe this is only coming about now because throughout this year's Christmas excesses I have been confronted with an even larger excess of food and associated packaging waste than usual. Maybe it's because I have already quit smoking and have reduced my intake of meat, dairy and alcohol about as far as I can, so this is just about the only remaining vice I can think of (well, the only one that I would want to reduce at any rate). Or maybe it's just because 'Blue Planet II' finished on the telly just before Christmas and now I can feel David Attenborough guilt-tripping me every time I screw the plastic cap off a carton of soya milk. You know that feeling you get when your grandparents say something along the lines of "I'm not angry dear; I'm just disappointed..."? Yeah, well it feels just like that.
So instead of a straightforward resolution this year I shall instead be conducting this experiment: I am going to see just how long I can go without buying anything that entails plastic components or packaging. I'm going to issue a disclaimer straight away, which is that I'm not going to pretend that this new way of living is forever because the truth is I don't yet know just how hard this thing is going to be. Setting realistic goals is going to be impossible, at least at the start. But, just like going on a health-kick or quitting smoking, I'm just going to take it one day at a time and see how far I can get. If I can go a day without buying any plastic, then can I go a whole week? And If I can go a week, then can I go a whole fortnight? A whole month? And after that?
Let's find out shall we?
I'll be back in January 2018 to embark on my brand new Plastic-free Life! Now, at last I can get some sleep...
I have always been a conscientious nature-lover and I have been aware of the enormous threat of plastic for many years, but in recent days I have been asking myself why I haven't made any real strides to tackle my own plastic consumption head-on? True, I recycle just about everything I can, I carry a thermos flask to eliminate the need for disposable coffee cups and I ditched single-use plastic shopping bags (even before the supermarkets started introducing the 5p charge, I'm very smug to say!)
But is all that enough? Really enough? Do I even know how much of the plastic I throw in the bin can actually be recycled? How much energy and carbon waste has to be produced in order to recycle my plastic face-cream containers and how much more so to produce such plastic goods in the first place?
The more I think about it, the more I am haunted by visions of my very own private bulging mound of plastic refuse shooting ever higher into a sky blackened with toxic fumes, with a big ugly sign on top that reads "Alice's crap", writ nice and big for all to see! (cue: sound of weeping baby Harp seals in the distance...)
Maybe this is only coming about now because throughout this year's Christmas excesses I have been confronted with an even larger excess of food and associated packaging waste than usual. Maybe it's because I have already quit smoking and have reduced my intake of meat, dairy and alcohol about as far as I can, so this is just about the only remaining vice I can think of (well, the only one that I would want to reduce at any rate). Or maybe it's just because 'Blue Planet II' finished on the telly just before Christmas and now I can feel David Attenborough guilt-tripping me every time I screw the plastic cap off a carton of soya milk. You know that feeling you get when your grandparents say something along the lines of "I'm not angry dear; I'm just disappointed..."? Yeah, well it feels just like that.
So instead of a straightforward resolution this year I shall instead be conducting this experiment: I am going to see just how long I can go without buying anything that entails plastic components or packaging. I'm going to issue a disclaimer straight away, which is that I'm not going to pretend that this new way of living is forever because the truth is I don't yet know just how hard this thing is going to be. Setting realistic goals is going to be impossible, at least at the start. But, just like going on a health-kick or quitting smoking, I'm just going to take it one day at a time and see how far I can get. If I can go a day without buying any plastic, then can I go a whole week? And If I can go a week, then can I go a whole fortnight? A whole month? And after that?
Let's find out shall we?
I'll be back in January 2018 to embark on my brand new Plastic-free Life! Now, at last I can get some sleep...
I have been having the same thoughts, it seams impossible doesn't it? I shall be following your progress and trying to go as plastic free as possible myself!
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