A realization that I have had recently is that I am just genuinely frustrated and scared of this whole plastic-researching process. I came in with this image in my head that we would be doing super cool research to interesting questions and I would leave having learned cool answers. However, I am scared because the complexity and enormity of the whole “plastics” debate is super overwhelming. I am frustrated because I find that I never really feel like my questions are answered. I feel like no matter how much information I gather and learn, there is still so much left to be answered. Also, a lot of times the answer is unsatisfying and inconclusive. I hear a lot of “we just don’t know” and “depends on the industry/company/state/country/etc.” Which is extremely frustrating to me because I went into the process expecting to receive concrete answers to my questions. I think that the fact that I cannot find exact answers to my questions also adds to my fear of plastics in general, and whatever answers I do find make me wish I could be more ignorant than I am now. How can there be so many unknown variables and inconsistencies surrounding such an enormous and daunting topic? How can we just not know so much about something that is currently creating such real and everlasting effects on our health and our environment? How are we just allowing this to proceed as normal when we know that it is also unsafe? How can we get the big industries to care about such a large issue?
It also really scares me that plastics have become such a polarized topic. Many know the consequences of using plastics, but they continue to use them because of the fear of what would happen economically if we were to simply stop using them. In fact, in some places like Indiana, there is literally a ban on the plastic bag ban itself. There is such an enormous fear of the economic consequences of discontinuing plastic use, that discontinuing plastic use was banned entirely in itself. It is extremely alarming that plastics are so deeply entangled in how our society operates that people literally fear life without them.
Despite this, it is really important to think about all of the positive impacts that plastic has as well. For instance, plastic has an enormous positive impact on the health industry. Things come sealed in plastic to ensure that they are sterile, and many health devices are made of plastic or have components that are made of plastics. Plastics have transformed the medical industry. They have also made the production and packaging of millions of products cheaper and easier, so mass production was made more simple. In other words, plastics aren’t all bad.
Even though I know that not all plastics are bad, I still have the same reaction every single time that I think about or talk about plastic: why don’t we just ban them entirely? To me, the plastic enemy image severely outweighs the good things that plastics are contributing to the world. Along this entire journey, I have only thought about how I wish I was more ignorant about plastics and that I wish plastics were never introduced in the first place.
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