No unnecessary plastic packaged meals (week 1)
I wanted to do a challenge I would see myself maintain after the two weeks were over. A couple of friends from Holland would come over during the weekend so things like a plant-based diet or living for 20 bucks a week would probably not work. Then I knew it. I was surprised by the number of meals, sold either around the campus or anywhere in the city, packaged in plastic containers. Even the cutlery was plastic and individually packaged in a plastic bag. In Holland, I was not used to bringing lunch to uni since I either lunched at home, which was a five-minute bike ride away, or I would get lunch at uni which was packaged in biodegradable materials. I love having a warm lunch so I could imagine I would love eating a warm pasta at uni. I was not used to preparing meals to bring with me so it would be a challenge I could even keep up after the two weeks were over. Let’s go!
The first couple of days were easy. On Sunday I had to cook alone so I just made two portions. One for Sunday and one for Monday during lunch. Even though I am normally not a big fan of microwave meals, this tasted quite good. I was full of energy to make this challenge a success! Then the first barrier presented itself. I had not considered what coffee was served in (at home all coffee is served in paper cups) and of course it was plastic… As far as I knew you could not fill your own cup at the coffee machines but I need my daily coffee. Okay, only coffee then since I cannot change what cups they use.
The next day was an easy one, only an afternoon class. I just cooked some quick lunch for myself and went to class. I had a portion leftover, but in the evening I did not feel like cooking so I ate that meal.
“I only have a morning class tomorrow so I can just make a fresh lunch at home.”
Fail
On Wednesday I only had a morning class, but stupid me was not considering the possibility of project work in the afternoon. Sad as I was I dragged my ass to the cafeteria and ate my lunch from a plastic plate… THIS WAS THE LAST TIME.
The next couple of days went quite smoothly. I thought about taking lunch to class and it was delicious. Even during the weekends when my friends came over we did not eat any plastic packaged meals. We even looked for an aperitivo place that did not use single-use plastic plates. Apart from my one fail and the whole coffee situation this first week had been a success.
