How to Be a Plastic-Free Baddie: Socially Anxious Edition
It’s 9 am. The bodega man is wrapping up your egg and cheese croissant. It smells like pure heaven. You’re in your own world dreaming about unwrapping that bad boy the moment you walk out. Oh My GOD. Wait. Did he just put it in A PLASTIC BAG??
Dammit. It’s too late. The deed is done. Now he’s throwing napkins in. Plastic forks. We are so far gone. If you tell him you don’t need all that now, is he even going to keep it? Won’t he just throw it away? What's worse? It simply isn’t worth it. I can’t say anything now. He did all that for me. Take the bag. The shame sets in, and the pure joy of eating the e&c is ruined.
This is a story we know too well. Since July is Plastic-Free Month, we’re here to coach you through exactly these types of interactions. As sustainable baddies, we can sometimes feel like the odd one out in the crowd; the only one asking to use our own cup, the only one grabbing our reusable utensils from our tote bags, or the only one with the produce bags at the grocery store. It can be exhausting to always get stares, questioning looks, and the Um, what have we got here? remarks.
But you know what they say about giving the hardest battles to the strongest warriors (or something like that). We were built for this. To make things a little easier on you, and to remind you that sustainable baddies never settle, we made an essential resource for susty self-advocacy in our plastic-dominated world. Never again will you let the bodega man hand you a plastic bag. Never again.
RULE NUMBER ONE: STAY ALERT
Don’t get distracted. Be on your toes. No bad things can happen when you’re awake and alert. That means putting your phone away (I know, blasphemous), and keeping your focus. This way, no one can pull a fast one on you.
RULE NUMBER TWO: CONFIDENCE IS KEY
No one knows what to do with a socially outgoing Gen Z (we are few and far between), so step into your power and enter the space with confidence. Even if you aren’t feeling very confident, fake it ‘til you make it. A confident baddie would never let the deli man slide their lunch into a plastic bag. A confident baddie wouldn’t even think about letting the barista slide a plastic top onto your coffee cup. No way.
RULE NUMBER THREE: TEST THE LIMITS
Once you’ve mastered confidence and alertness, it’s time to step into the next level: limit testing. A confident baddie knows how to ask for what they want, which taps into an entirely new power: BYO plastic swaps. No matter if you’re at Chipotle, the drive-thru, or your fav coffee window, it’s time to test how far our plastic-free behavior can stretch the limits. Bring your own containers, cups, and utensils. Ask not what the establishment won’t let you do, but what they will let you do.
We’re constantly being fed messages that our individual habits won’t make a difference in the grand scheme, and hey, maybe that’s true, but we’re far more powerful than we give ourselves credit for. It’s easy when something small goes wrong (the bodega man grabs the plastic bag) to begin questioning ourselves and our susty intentions. Never lose sight of your power.
Being plastic-free baddies whenever and wherever we can is the movement. Join the plastic-free wave that’s sweeping the globe by taking the Plastic-Free Challenge!