Today is the day that my plastic challenge officially begins.

I woke up this morning feeling excited to start this battle, yet I also have this murky, suspicious feeling that I really don’t know what I’m in for. This is probably going to be way harder than I expect. I’m already so curious to jump ahead in time and see what’s in store for me and for the giant green storage container in my kitchen that will be the receptacle for all of the plastic I accumulate this year.

I’ve started this experiment with a very paltry arsenal of items to help me fight the plastic accrual: a traveling coffee mug (that, ironically, is made of plastic, though it was advertised to be previously recycled and 100% recyclable), a red fabric reusable bag, and a Whole Foods gift card that my parents gave to me earlier this year. I’ve hoarded this gift card to use exclusively for my plastic experiment–I’m hoping Whole Foods will have some cheese, oatmeal, and deli meat that I can buy packaged in paper or tin, anything other than plastic.

And so starts this adventure…