Guilty for disregarding the hazardous effects of plastics and ignoring the need to recycle them? I certainly am. To be honest…before this semester, I did not pay heed to plastics, let alone to any wastes that require recycling. I did not own a separate recycling can, as I didn’t care much nor understand the reason for recycling. However, following the lectures given in this semester, I will admit, I am guilty- I am guilty for disregarding the harmful effects plastics have on the environment.

Following the Plastics Data Collection, I became extremely aware of every piece of plastic that was thrown away. I had a separate bag that collected mine and my husband’s plastics. I did not think for a second that I would actually begin recycling after this assignment. I thought to myself, ‘well, I’ll do this for 4 days just for Professor Branco.’ Oh, How I was wrong!

My husband has been nagging me to recycle every single day since the day we married. Being ‘lazy’ and kind of inconsiderate to the environment, I found the idea of recycling ‘dumb’ and ‘time-consuming,’ having to separate certain wastes from others. To my dismay, during this assignment, I realized exactly how difficult the process of recycling really is, even though I ONLY separated plastics. Being mindful and attentive to what was considered plastic and what was not was an endless and tiresome process, but it opened my eyes to the abundance of plastics that I throw to waste each and every day. Every water bottle was considered 2 pieces of plastics. I consume about 6 bottles a day, alone, disregarding the amount of water my husband consumes, and the other pieces of plastics I throw away throughout the day. Although the process of separation was tedious, the results were outrageously shocking! At the end of each day, the bag set aside for plastics was full, while my usual garbage can was almost empty! Almost everything I put to waste contained wholes or fragments of plastic!!

I found that the research obtained before the data collection of plastics was extremely crucial because without the knowledge of the harmful effects plastics can have on the environment, I would not have paid heed to the amount of plastics I threw out a day and would certainly not begin recycling. I am proud to say, to my husband’s surprise (and happiness of course!) I bought a recycling bin for my house and began recycling what needs to be recycled. I now understand the effects that recycled wastes, especially plastics, can have on the environment and do not intend on causing any more harm!

So thanks to Professor Branco, for opening our eyes to the hazardous effects that plastics have on the marine environment!