First plastic free lunch day disappoints

I’m sad to say that the lack of participation in National Plastic Free Lunch Day confirmed my pessimism about our chances of stopping climate change. Maybe most students didn’t participate because they think the way I do. For me, it’s hard to see a reason as to why we should participate in plastic-free lunch day. How is reducing the plastic we use in one day going to benefit our environment? Honestly, I worry that it’s too late to reverse any of the damage we’ve done to the planet. It seems like we can try to slow it down as much as we want but in the end our planet is always going to become worse. 

And, if we’re being realistic here, none of these major companies are going to stop reducing the amount of plastic they produce and the majority of people on the planet aren’t going to stop using plastic. No matter how much we try, many people aren’t willing to change the way they live their lives, so again, why have a plastic free lunch day?

I don’t think Plastic Free Lunch Day was as successful as it could’ve been. If it’s because most people think like me, then there’s no sense in trying again. But maybe it wasn’t as successful as it could’ve been because most students didn’t even know that it was National Plastic Free Lunch Day. 

Students on the Green Team and those who are in the Climate Change class knew, but not nearly the whole school. There was no school-wide message sent out and there weren’t any signs put up in the hallways. It wasn’t really talked about much, except by Mr. Zaid. There was nothing to incentivize participation. Maybe if the word was spread better, the day could’ve been much more successful. Flyers could have been put up in the school, a post could’ve been made on the QSI Instagram and more teachers could have said something about it. 

I’m not saying that we shouldn’t try to have a Plastic Free Lunch Day or anything like that, but if no one really knows about it, how can we do our part? If we want to do this again, and I don’t know if we will, then we have to do things differently next time.