Location:Santa Cruz, California, United States

Name: Colleen Marcus

Week: 1

Personal Info:

Hi I’m Colleen and I am a first year undergrad at the University of California Santa Cruz. Because I live in the dorms and eat in a dining hall I can’t collect a lot of the plastic I gather from meals, but I do still have a few snacky items.

List of plastic items REFUSED this week. (Yay!)

I didn’t refuse any because it was my first week I just wanted to see what I naturally gathered.

Total items collected: 9

Total weight:

Items: Recyclable
-1 bowl container

Items: Nonrecyclable
– 1 dried cranberry bag
– 1 m&m package
– 1 kitkat wrapper
– 4 Emergen-C packets
– 1 PB Cracker package wrapper

What items can I easily replace with plastic free or less plastic alternatives?
the plastic recyclable bowl

What items would I be willing to give up if a plastic free alternative doesn’t exist?
Everything but the Emergen-C packets

What items are essential and seem to have no plastic-free alternative?
Emergenc-C plastic wrappers

What lifestyle change(s) might be necessary to reduce my plastic consumption?
Less snacky foods

What one plastic item am I willing to give up or replace this week?
The M&M wrapper

What other conclusions, if any, can I draw?
Generally, I think I might have more trash if I cooked my own food but I don’t think my collection was too bad