Monthly Archives: November 2015

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Home Plastics Data Collection: Is Being Mindful Enough?

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Upon receiving the assignment for the home plastics data collection, I was immediately hesitant. I didn’t think my family would be particularly participatory, and besides, who wants to quantify the harm they’re personally contributing to the environment?

To my surprise, my family responded relatively warmly. I hung up a chart on the refrigerator with a pen conveniently attached (if they had to expend effort looking for a pen to record the data, I wasn’t going to get much), and acted as the annoying voice in the back of their head reminding them to be aware of the plastic they’re consuming.

In addition to learning more precisely what is and isn’t plastic, and in which category the pieces belong, the data collection compelled us to be mindful—mindful of our plastic intake, where we dispose of these plastics, and how dependent on plastics our lives have become.

I think that doing research before participating in this plastics audit was a good idea. It allowed us to be mindful in another way, besides the aforementioned ones: we were able to understand, at least to some extent, the damage of plastics in the environment. It contextualized what exactly we were doing. However, it then led me to wonder: yes, all those who participate in such a data collection will inevitably learn of the harm caused by plastics, but does that prompt a real shift in plastic consumption? Is there a tangible change in attitude and lifestyle? Besides, how many households could even make a dent in national—or even citywide—plastic consumption? We talked a bit in class about what corporations can do, since they’re the ones with the power. But what can the average layperson, who’s throwing out 6 pieces of plastic a day, do to positively impact the environment?

This led me to think about what recycling really does. Why didn’t we just count the plastic that we didn’t recycle? I did some simple googling, and came across an informative CBS News article, in which I learned that “the materials least likely to be melted and reused were plastic: PET…bottles and jars had a recycling rate of 29.2 percent, white translucent bottles a rate of 27.5 percent.” Also, a professor from Baruch (go CUNY!) was quoted as saying, “Even if everyone is America was perfect at recycling everything, it wouldn’t make a dent in the overall flow in the waste materials.” Ultimately though, recycling isn’t bad and “it helps companies and governments save some money in the long run.” Still, I’m not satisfied.

All I can say is, instead of providing answers, this data collection prompted lots of questions.

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Each Key on Your Keyboard Will One Day Be a Separate Tally: The Home Plastics Audit

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It’s amazing how dependent our society has become on plastics. Imagine a world without plastics. How would we eat lunch in public? How would we be able to sit down, relax and change the channels of our televisions? If all the plastic in our world suddenly disappeared, we would be so debilitated that even a simple task such as getting on the train would be impossible.

Participating in the home plastics audit made it clear to me just how much plastic I use daily. Prior to the audit, I didn’t think that I used plastic as much as other people, but then while I was going about my day in school, the tallies started adding up. I wake up in the morning and turn off my alarm clock— the one that’s made of plastic. I get out of my bed and touch my glasses, which just happen to have a plastic frame. Then there’s my tube of toothpaste, the stylish plastic cover on my faucet handles, my toothbrush, and that’s within 5 minutes of waking up. Although the home plastics audit only took into account the plastics that we consumed, I realized that my life was way more dependent on plastics than I thought it was.

I believe that the way this data was collected was flawed. It only takes into account the plastics that one throws away. It does not distinguish specifically between category of plastic or size of plastics well. If a bottle has three pieces of plastic associated with it (bottle, bottle cap, and the plastic wrapper) and a person places three tallies in the area labeled beverage bottles, how would the data interpreters know the difference? And even if the person placed the cap and wrapper into the plastic fragments category, how would one know if the wrapper contained more plastic than the dense cap? The interpreters would not even be able to tell that it was a wrapper and a bottle cap at all!

Although this is a flaw, it doesn’t affect the main concern of this data collection: informing participants of just how much plastic they consume daily. It shows us how important plastics are in our lives. We begin to notice how dependent we are on them and then most importantly we begin to plan different ways on hindering our plastic usage. Although the data might not be completely accurate for definitive scientific use, I believe the numbers are enough to cause change in the way we view plastics and the issue we have with its waste products.

I think this data collection also brings into question the media’s use of statistics. When news channels state statistics such as “every year the average American uses 15,000 pounds of plastic” (a 100% made-up statistic) what kinds of plastics are they using? What sample size? Over the course of how many days was each person surveyed? What season? Almost anything can affect statistics, so clarification is necessary whenever reporting the results of any scientific study.

The home plastics audit is extremely important in that it lets all individuals track their plastic usage and create anti-plastic approaches that are specific to their own lives.