Dear Plastic, It's Not Me, It's You: A Zero-Waste Break Up Letter

Dear Plastic,

It's time we had The Talk. See, I'm not happy with the way you've changed my life.

At first, I was so excited! So smitten! 

Plastic, you're so lightweight and cheap, and you keep things really clean. That's what initially attracted me to you.

You have so much promise and potential! You can be literally anything, from a bottle to clothing to medical devices to pretty much everything imaginable! With just a little chemistry, you can be LEGGINGS or a bandage or a plastic bag or a computer mouse. I was amazing by your flexibility, your ability to be everything! 

Plus, I was told that you were completely recyclable. Toss you in the bin and in just a few weeks, you'll be a brand new bottle or bag. 

I believed the hype and for a brief moment, you delivered. You really did.

via GIPHY

And then...

We got to know each other.

I learned so many things about you, plastic, that frankly, I can't unlearn. Just a few: 

• Taxpayers subsidize your existence so other materials can't compete on cost. I thought you were affordable, but it's more that no one else is competing on the same level. 
  
  
• As such, Plastic, you're almost impossible to avoid. I get it, you have some totally valid uses, like in medical settings. But I see you E V E R Y W H E R E and I can't avoid you, even though I am trying.
  
  
• Oil and plastic companies lied for decades about how much plastic could feasibly be recycled, as a way to encourage your production and consumption. I thought recycling was a solution, but it was greenwashing. We produce WAY more plastic than can be recycled, IF we have the infrastructure. I feel deceived, plastic.
  
  
• You degrade each time you're recycled, IF you can even be recycled, meaning a bottle doesn't necessarily become another bottle. You come in so many varieties, with so many additives, it's not possible to recycle you as advertised. The BETRAYAL. 
  
  
• You never decompose, like, ever. Plastic, you turn into micro- and nano-plastics. You've been found EVERYWHERE in the world. Including human placentas, breast milk, organs, the Himalayas, and the Marianas Trench. It's like you can't let me go, and I need to get away.
  

via GIPHY

•  Too often, plastic, you wind up buried the Global South, leeching chemicals into the soil, being burned, spreading toxic fumes into the air (and soil), or in the ocean, where you negatively affect everything you interact with. By 2050, you might be more prevalent in the ocean than all the fish, by weight. Except fish belong there, you don't. 
  
  
• And even so, there's more of you being made now than ever before. You're EVEN less likely to be recycled. You're everywhere. It's like you're obsessed with me, and I need it to stop.

And so, plastic, our time together needs to come to an end. It's not me, it's you.

I'm opting for biodegradable products when possible, skipping the plastic, embracing zero-waste, refills, a circular economy....everything you told me was "too hard" or "inconvenient" or "too expensive."

And the truth? 

The swaps are WELL worth it, they're not nearly as hard or time-consuming, or expensive as you told me. (I'm saving money by reusing the things I have and by purchasing less stuff! And the things I do buy seem to last a lot longer!)

It's a small price to pay to feel better about the choices I'm making for my home and the planet.

So I must say: Goodbye, Plastic. 

I deserve better. 

Love, 
Lindsey
Wheaton, MD.