My Imperfect Plastic-Free Life

By Sarah Parkinson

Here I sit at my desk, with pictures of perfection and reality side by side. Can you spot the difference?

Over the past few years, I’ve been on an exploration, probing the intersection between the impact of my everyday decisions such as what or how much I consume, and what it means to follow a God who loves all people with a holistic, radical and sacrificial love.

Throw into the mix my affinity for a personal lifestyle challenge and I end up with some (perhaps overly) ambitious New Year’s Resolutions that force me to reevaluate my choices and habits. Last year, I completed a fashion fast and didn’t buy any new clothes, shoes or accessories for twelve months. It was a joyfully challenging experience that has shaped me indelibly and I recommend it to everyone! From January 1 this year, I decided to go plastic-free. 

Although I already had an awareness of the environmental impact of plastic pollution on our landscapes and oceans, the recent Rubbish Campaign really opened my eyes to the devastating consequences of single-use plastic on people. I learned that without adequate recycling and waste collection in many poorer nations, the burning of plastic and mismanagement of waste is increasing morbidity and causing an estimated one million deaths every year (not to mention, contributing to climate change which also disproportionately affects the most vulnerable). Both as a physiotherapist concerned about global health and a Christian called to love my neighbours (Mark 12:31) and take care of the Earth (Genesis 2:15), these impacts demanded my response. 

So, together with over 50,000 people globally, I signed the Rubbish Campaign petition calling on multinational companies to take responsibility for their single-use plastic waste in developing nations. After being inspired by Tearfund UK’s Jo Herbert-James and her zero-waste lifestyle at The Justice Conference 2019, I was also convicted to do more to reduce my plastic use. I thought this would not only be a great, practical way to reduce my environmental impact, but would also be an immensely fulfilling, joyful opportunity to put my love for God and His creation - both people and planet - into action. And for the most part, it has been!

I’ve discovered the joys of bulk food shopping, filling my recycled jars with delicious, plastic-free goodies (salt and vinegar cashews - yes, please!). At the greengrocer or supermarket, I go for loose fruit and veggies, and buy bread in paper bags from the local baker. For any leftovers, I’ll pop them in a reusable container or cover them with colourful beeswax wraps to avoid single-use plastic. And as plastic kitchen and bathroom products have been used up, it’s been super satisfying to support ethical small businesses and replace them with plastic-free varieties - bamboo cotton buds and tooth brushes, bars of soap, shampoo and conditioner (that smell amazing!), biodegradable dish cloths, cardboard deodorant sticks, compostable dental floss, reusable hemp make-up wipes, a stainless steel razor with recyclable blades (hello, smooth shave for the rest of my life!) and other zero-waste personal care items we can talk about if ever we meet!

I would love to say that I’ve been able to live perfectly plastic-free this year, but I haven’t. I’ve had to use disposable masks and other single-use products as a physiotherapist, which I understand but also lament. There are some transitions I haven’t yet made, like plastic-free toothpaste as I’m overprotective of my teeth after a couple of dental traumas! It’s also actually been really tricky to find waste-free options for things like simple painkillers or other medications, berries, cheese, yoghurt and tofu (a staple for vegetarians like me!), and this has been compounded by COVID-19 restrictions that prevent visits to bulk food stores outside a 5 kilometre radius, so I’ve been purchasing pantry staples in plastic during lockdown, too. When I do buy these plastic-covered items, I buy in bulk to reduce the amount of plastic overall, but I still want to do better. And while I did give them up during Lent, I must admit there are three conveniences wrapped in plastic that I continue to snack on at times: rice crackers, hummus and muesli bars, as you can see in the first picture! Good meal (and life) planning is key to avoiding these!

Bulk food shopping joy!

Living with my parents and brother has also come with both joys and challenges as we navigate these new ways of living. For my family, there have been both lightbulb moments of clarity as well as frustrations when I nag them for not doing what I think is ‘right’. For me, the family experience has also been equally encouraging - seeing my mum coming home with veggies in reusable produce bags - and frustrating - seeing her continue to wrap things in plastic. Through it all, I’ve been reminded again and again that relationships are far more important than being ‘right’. We cannot change people, we can only love them. And if the God of the Universe can lavish grace and love on me, as exasperating and self-righteous as I can be, surely He’d like me to attempt to do likewise? But by far the most uncomfortable process that has occurred throughout this attempt at plastic-free living is the deconstruction of unhealthy perfectionism.

I’ll be the first to admit that I’m a perfectionist. My deepest desire is to do what is good and right, and my deepest fear is to fall short of that impossible standard! While I know that all have sinned and fall short of God’s perfect standard (Romans 3:23) and that it is only by grace that we are saved from the consequences of that (Ephesians 2:8-9), this desire is my default setting. At its best, this drive to do right is an expression of obedience and love for our perfect God that fuels our passion to improve ourselves, others and the world. At its worst, if we operate in our own strength and not in God’s grace, we can become frustrated that all is not perfect and impose Pharisaic rules on ourselves and others in an attempt to make it so. Joyful opportunities to honour God with our everyday lives can become dutiful, self-imposed rule-following.

The key lesson my imperfectly plastic-free life is teaching me is that God is not after my perfection, but my loving faithfulness. Being a faithful servant doesn’t mean being perfect. God offers us grace which we in turn can offer ourselves. And He certainly doesn’t call us to act only if we can act perfectly - if that were the case, we’d all be exempt from service because none of us will ever be perfect! As much as I’d like to be 100% plastic-free and dream of a world where that is the norm, I’m realising that trying and falling short of a God-honouring, ambitious target is far better than not trying at all. That being as faithful as we can in our choices with an often imperfect set of options is still good. And that imperfect action is better than perfect inaction. This is incredibly relevant in the zero-waste movement, as captured perfectly by the idea that we need lots of people imperfectly pursuing a plastic-free life - not just a few people doing it to perfection. 

While my decision to reduce plastic use was initially a direct response to the environmental impact of plastic waste and the health impact of single-use plastic on people living in poorer communities, it has also become a deeply reflective, spiritual exercise as I practice sacrificing personal convenience for the sake of others. It has been challenging but so satisfying, as most truly good things are. Jesus himself said this to his followers:

“If you truly desire to be my disciple, you must disown your life completely, embrace my ‘cross’ as your own, and surrender to my ways. For if you choose self-sacrifice, giving up your lives for my glory, you will embark on a discovery of more and more of true life. But if you choose to keep your lives for yourselves, you will lose what you try to keep” (Luke 9:23-24 TPT). 

So, I humbly offer my flawed but faithful attempts to follow Jesus - through whom all my imperfections are pardoned - and eagerly pursue the plastic-free life as an act of love for God, neighbours near and far and this planet that sustains us all.