Thane Burnett is in the middle of the most frustrating assignment of his career.
And all he has to do is nothing -- as he refrains from buying anything with plastic for six weeks.
Inspired by a similar "plastic Lent," taken on by a U.K. Guardian blogger, Burnett and his suburban Canadian family have just passed the halfway mark in seeing what life is like without paying for the benefits of any new plastic thingamajigs and watchamacallits.
So as the rest of the western world tries to reduce waste by toting around reusable grocery bags and refillable water bottles, Burnett and his plastic loving clan have gone cold turkey.
But selected highlights of his daily diary, leading into the midway mark of his 42-day Lent, show that old habits may take longer to break down than a plastic milk jug does to decompose in a landfill -- about one million years.
Day 1
Brown bagged a lunch, including garden salad. Went to Sun Media cafeteria to buy salad dressing, only to find it sold in tiny plastic pouches. Dry lettuce and carrots suck.
Day 3
Was supposed to rent documentary about world's fixation with plastic. Realized it's not only made of plastic, but also covered in a thick packaging of it. Ah, the irony.
Day 5
Brought the family together to count how many rolls of toilet paper we have in the house, after realizing we can't buy any more for six weeks unless we can find it without a plastic wrap. I work out how many squares a day -- around 50 each -- which seems generous.
Day 6
Suspect someone in the house is cheating. There was fresh sour cream with tacos at supper. Everyone swears they know nothing, and keep chewing in awkward, crunchy silence. Youngest child, Michelle, looks suspicious -- won't look me in the eyes since we had the toilet paper talk.
Day 8
Debate rages about whether wrapping for the family's favourite granola bars are plastic or tinfoil. I stand my ground that everything is plastic. I mean EVERYTHING.
Day 9
I'm laughed at by checkout girl, who doesn't understand why I pay for cartons of milk, which are twice as expensive as the bagged stuff on sale.
Day 10
Find plastic container from take-out sandwich, hidden at bottom of trash. I hear laughter in the other room.
Day 11
Nick, 12 years old, needs new sneakers to replace ones falling from his feet. Since all runners contain some plastic, I relent and swear it will be the only exception.
Day 12
Other than this other exception. Oldest daughter, Samantha, has her prom. I pick up corsage -- held in a sealed plastic container.
Day 13
Why can't my local grocery store produce paper bags for fresh bread without plastic windows? You can't simply look in the opening?
Day 14
Dangerously low on dry cat food for our two felines. Looking at feeding them the family bird.
Day 15
Tired of buying my Tim Horton's coffee without a lid.
Day 16
Why do steel garden sheers contain plastic parts?
Day 17
Third child, Genna, comes home drinking frozen slushy in a plastic container with plastic straw. She shrugs, and then walks off slurping.
They're ruining everything.
Day 18
Pick up dry cleaning. Raining. Plastic wrapped. You figure it out.
Day 19
Kids and wife seem to be going out of their way to now buy plastic. You couldn't buy a cucumber without the wrapping?
Day 20
I walk around stores now, marvelling and mumbling at the silly amount of plastic we take for granted. No wonder it ends up forming islands in the Pacific Ocean.
Day 21
Is the outer coating of paintballs plastic? If so, I may have just bought 1,000 plastic items and fired them off in the woods. Which would mean I should have saved that last round to use on myself.
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So you think you can do any better, maybe not
A quick check in any cupboard of your house, a drive in your car or even a new bank card may make you change your mind.
In fact, chances are, right now, you can likely reach out and touch something made from plastic.
It's more prevalent than wood or green grass in our daily lives.
Here are some everyday items that may be hard to do without.
- Shampoo in plastic bottles
- Toothpaste and toothbrushes
- Most cleaners
- Toilet paper, which is almost always wrapped in plastic
- Meats wrapped in cellophane
- Boxed breakfast cereal - darn plastic bags inside
- Most packs of birthday candles
- Many glass jars, where the lids are plastic
- Orange juice
- Toilet plunger
- Many car parts
- Most electronics
- Pens
- Shoes
- Many home reno tools, like drills and saws
- CDs and DVDs
- Plastic zippers and buttons on many clothes
