Here on our blog we have a “Plastic-Free Fridays” Challenge started. Every Friday, the goal is to avoid using single-use plastic as much as possible. How well or poorly that worked in my case and what I learned from it – that's what I'm going to talk about today.

My experiences

A quick note up front: I work from home and fortunately have a lot of flexibility in how I organize my time. Fridays are still usually workdays for me. Therefore, I spent most of the Fridays in June at my desk. Because my job requires me to use electronic devices like my laptop and cell phone, I excluded them from the "Plastic-Free Fridays" challenge. In general, I focused on reducing single-use plastic and packaging waste during the challenge. Nevertheless, I also wanted to document other everyday plastic items; simply to avoid leaving anything out and to get an overview.

A little insight into a typical Friday

Morning

But let's start from the beginning: I wake up in the morning and set my alarm clock—plastic, the first. Then, in the bathroom, the next disappointment: The toothpaste comes from—what could be otherwise?—a plastic container. Plastic, then. At least the other component of brushing my teeth is now taken care of thanks to my bamboo toothbrush. At least I can manage without plastic during meditation and my morning yoga session. 😅 . In the shower, it's "plastic, the third"—or, wait, not! Because the packaging for my shower gel is made of 100% recycled plastic. I count that as a small win. 😊

Fortunately, things continue to be plastic-free at breakfast. My porridge today has to do without Oatly oat milk (due to the packaging). Instead, I use water, which tastes almost as good.

Then I start working. A while passes without any plastic until I reach for my pen to jot something down. I realize that I've never thought about how many pens are made of plastic or contain plastic. This realization discourages me a little. But hey, let's move on, work calls...

Photo by Lex Sirikiat on Unsplash

Noon

At lunchtime, I take a break. Fortunately, the meal is plastic-free again. The entire time, my cat sits next to the dining table, staring at me expectantly. After I feed him (unfortunately, with food wrapped in plastic), I notice that he wants to play with me. I decide to conduct a little "investigation," which fits perfectly with the topic. My boyfriend recently gave the cat a new toy: a round plastic ball that moves on its own thanks to a small motor. Will it compete with his beloved ball of yarn? To keep it short: No! I'm not surprised, but I'm happy to see that my cat almost immediately preferred the "natural" toy. A win-win, I'd say!

All gimmicks aside, I found it extremely interesting to observe my Fridays this way. Thinking about what kind of products I use all day long, what components they consist of, and how many different components from various industries have to be put together to complete a product.

At evening

I become aware of this again in the evening.
I'm watching the film “Little Women”, which has just been released on DVD and for streaming (a clear film recommendation, by the way 😉). Downloading the film via a video-on-demand service, I realize that streaming is not only convenient, affordable, and available on demand, but also more resource-efficient. Because plastic packaging and information brochures are eliminated, no plastic is used. The same applies, of course, to CDs and console games, which are now increasingly available for download. Interesting, I think...

At dinner shortly before, I unfortunately discover that the lamb's lettuce I'm about to prepare comes in a plastic container. A minor setback, but the rest of the evening proceeds without any plastic complications. 😄

What I learned

The events described, of course, represent only a fraction of my day. Every day, especially every Friday, is different. With this brief insight, I wanted to provide examples of situations where I struggled or where I particularly noticed the general consumption of plastic.

Which brings us to the first point of my "learnings": Because I've been dealing with the topics of sustainability, plastic consumption, waste, climate, and environmental protection for some time, I had classified myself as a fairly "plastic-conscious" person. After this challenge, I have to say that I can still improve quite a bit. A daily life completely free of plastic items is certainly possible – but for me, it's hardly imaginable at the moment. In any case, I've learned that I want to pay even more attention to plastic packaging and avoid it. The lamb's lettuce in the plastic packaging, for example, really wasn't necessary...

Beyond that, as briefly mentioned above, I found it a truly fascinating experience. My awareness expanded enormously. On Fridays, I focused particularly on plastic, which made me suddenly notice things I'd never really thought about before. So many things are taken for granted and everyday that we no longer notice "the little things."

Finally, I noticed that I've become more mindful. This is probably directly related to my expanded awareness and focused attention. I paused from time to time. I adopted an "observer perspective" and approached things much more consciously. This brought a special calm to my workday, and I felt more "awake" overall.

The conclusion

I learned a lot from the challenge and definitely want to continue. The challenge showed me that I still have a lot to learn and can improve in some areas. At the same time, I realized how much progress I've already made. Even within the one month, it's become easier and easier for me to avoid plastic. I've also been able to replace one or two products or learn about alternatives.

Challenges like this are a simple, playful way to engage more deeply with certain topics. I highly recommend that you introduce "Plastic-Free Fridays" or encourage others in your community to do the same.