You might not be able to pronounce their names, but you sure know how they look: polypropylene plastic tupperware at Corner 17, polystyrene plastic utensils at Bear’s Den, or the thousands of polyethylene terephthalate plastic coffee cups traversing campus in our hands. All of this seems completely normal, and that’s precisely the issue. For our personal and environmental health, this needs to change. As WashU students, we can work toward shifting this plastic thoughtlessness into a relationship based on awareness and resistance.

To understand how we can work toward WashU’s advancement, we need to first understand why plastic is a problem. Microplastics and plastic-based chemicals have been found in human breast milk, brain tissue, blood, and lungs due to their leaching into our food. This consistent leaching is packed with endocrine-disrupting chemicals, interrupting our body’s hormone signals daily and risking a future of reproductive issues and cancer.

One would think this obvious public health risk would be a nonpartisan issue everyone can agree on eliminating. However, even universally agreed-upon solutions are influenced by political agendas and industry lobbying. For decades, we’ve been told that recycling is the solution. Well, we hate to break it to you, but that’s a myth. In reality, only a tiny fraction of plastic — only 5%-6% in the U.S. — is ever recycled annually. Despite sorting it, plastic waste ends up right where we don’t want it: landfills.

This is no coincidence; we’ve been brainwashed by petrochemical production giants who don’t have our well-being in mind. While it is true that many plastics are technically recyclable, they aren’t economically viable to process. This means that, yes, recycling is happening, but it’s just not happening in the process we would expect. Cue downcycling: a downstream process, addressing an upstream problem, where plastics are turned into materials of lesser value. Therefore, as long as plastic is in huge demand, this alone won’t solve anything.

It’s clear that industry has tried to downplay the negative effects of plastic. We can’t, though, ignore the practical daily benefits plastic brings. Take a look at the PPE found on our Danforth and Medical Campuses, plastic that protects the lives of lab researchers and sick patients. Also, notice how our fruits and vegetables remain relatively unscratched, despite their shipment across the globe to campus. This is again thanks to plastic. These examples show aspects of life where no cheap, accessible, plastic-free alternatives exist. However, taking a look at the food and drink industry, plentiful sustainable plastic alternatives exist, including, hear us out, reusable cups.

Learning about this dysfunctional system in “Topics in Politics: The Politics of Plastics,” we wanted to audit our personal plastic usage and tracked a scarily large amount over seven days, from protein bar wrappers to makeup containers. This activity left us feeling like puppets under petrochemical producers’ hands. 

We wanted to break free from their grasp by educating our peers about the detrimental aspects of plastic reliance and trying to jumpstart on-campus solutions. To keep things short, nothing came out of our efforts. Between BD, Village House, Kaldi’s, Collins Farms, Cafe Bergson, residential halls, and Beast Craft BBQ, our requests to reduce plastic usage fell on empty ears or unfulfilled follow-ups. This did help us understand that change won’t happen overnight and showed how WashU is tied into contracts with plastic-reliant suppliers or how restaurants are restrained by budgets and dishwashing space. Nonetheless, we still know a human and environmental health crisis is on the horizon if we don’t change.

This is a change that, historically, has proven to be possible. In 2009, WashU was the first university in North America to ban the sale of plastic water bottles on campus, leading to a 567,000 plastic bottle reduction annually. Later, in 2012 and 2013, Student Union and the Office of Sustainability led an effort to remove plastic bags from campus. More recently, the University has turned its focus away from waste streams, including transitions toward a more electrified energy grid. However, we propose it’s time for WashU to return to its plastic-busting past.

We ask that WashU recognize its responsibility as a world-class institution to be at the leading edge of solutions. We also ask that on-campus retailers start conversations about their plastic usage with employees and suppliers, working to minimize their plastic consumption through straightforward, cost-effective methods. More than anything, we ask that you, our reader, take time to audit your plastic usage this upcoming week, thinking about the broken recycling system, considering the toxins you willingly put into your body, and acting in whatever way you see fit. While the plastic crisis requires urgent global stakeholder collaboration and economic reform, the conversation needs to start with us. 

We have to break the cycle.