wyhr.orgWendy’s World

Yesterday I posted about an excellent idea I found on another blog site – to go one week without plastic and to document the ups and downs associated with such a journey. As I approach the end of Day 1, I’m still excited to try and be plastic-less, but hesitant about what difficulty I will find as I attend a wedding this afternoon. But let’s not put the cart before the horse. Here’s my record of Day 1’s triumphs and failures:

I work in the Research & Development (R&D) department of a food company. My company is super safety-minded and so I’m not allowed to have or use any sort of glass objects near the food we make for you. Why? Because we can’t detect glass in food. So if, by chance, a glass container breaks near the food I’m making for you and a piece happens to get in there, there’s no way for us to know. You’ll eat it and then scratch your throat up . We care about you and so I cannot have glass lunch containers. That’s right, lunch containers. Do I eat lunch near the food I’m making for you? Nope. This way I don’t spit on your food or, more importantly, contaminate the candy I’m making with fish, peanuts, etc. (lumped in to a group we dub allergens). I’m all about keeping you guys safe from my germs or allergens but even if I eat at my desk, it’s in a completely separate area from the food I’m making for you.

Not the point.

Basically, prior to committing to a plastic-less week, I brought in all plastic as a result of me wanting my lunch bag (aka feed bag) at my desk. So let’s just say lunch was a BIG failure in terms of plastic-free. The good news – I can change the situation and store my feed bag in the designated refrigerators in the cafeteria (about 90 miles* away from the food we make for you). Or I can make an investment in a stainless steel lunch container (yup, they exist). I’ll let you know how that works out.

Another result of me not being allowed to have glass in R&D is I didn’t bring in my dressing from home. Since we have a full-service lunch in our cafeteria I had planned on using the cafeteria’s dressing. So I was forced, or at least saw it as the only option at the time, to portion out the dressing I wanted in to a small #1 plastic tub. I thought I could re-use the tub several times thus nullifying the “badness” of it being plastic. Thought being the key word. At the end of the work day, as I walked the 90 miles* to the exit, I had a sneaking suspicion all was not well in my lunch bag. I was right. I looked down and the tub’s plastic lid had come off and dressing was all over my lunch bag. Terrific.I suppose the lid was getting back at me for even thinking I could go a day without plastic. Well plastic lid you just confirmed why I shouldn’t use you – so there!

The triumphs of Day 1? Well I wouldn’t call it a triumph but I would say that the impulsive decision to go without plastic mid-day made me realize how much I have to cut out. I don’t think this will be a convenient journey but it’s certainly do-able. With that, I’ll end this post. Stay tuned for Day 2.

* I hope everyone realizes this is an exaggeration.