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.