Plastic is made to be very durable. While physical structure of plastic breaks down into smaller and smaller pieces, it is unclear when, if ever, that plastic biodegrades – which basically is another way of saying that plastic may last forever. 

Now keeping that in mind, I went about my day taking the time to notice when I came into contact with plastic.

This is a quick list of what I noticed was contained in plastic in my apartment: milk, yogurt, mayonnaise, sour cream, syrup, honey, canola oil, peanut butter, most of my spices, dishwashing liquid, floor cleaner, multi-vitamins, valerian root pills, contact solution, shampoo, tylenol, body lotion, hydrogen peroxide, birth control pills, plastic cup from a fast food place that I use to water my plants, etc…
Pondering this, it upset me to know that a lot of these plastic containers hold things that I use on a regular basis, that I buy over and over and over again. Sure, some of it get recycled, but the rest of it can’t be (see extra credit below). This mean after I throw it away, it continues on existing for thousands of years. Multiplied by the millions of people who are doing the same thing I am.  It hurts my head.
Extra credit: I turned over all my plastic to see what kind of I had.
Taking the time to turn over the containers of plastic in my home, I was surprised by which ones are recyclable (my contact solution container) and which ones were not (my oregano spice container). Plastics are usually on the bottom of the container with a resin identification code.
Some plastic can be recycled – these are the ones marked with the number 1 (PETE) or the number 2 (HDPE).  Only a few places also take other types of plastic such as number 5 (PP). More recently, there has been efforts to recycle plastic bags which have a resin ID code of 4 (LDPE) .
However, Green America posts some depressing news about recycling plastics:
“No plastics are truly recyclable back into the same type of container they were before, due to the chemical properties of plastics. Plastics #1 and some #2 are “downcyclable” into second-order products, like plastic “lumber” for picnic tables and decks. With the exception of a few model programs like that of Stonyfield Farms and Recycline—which turns used #5 yogurt cups into Recycline toothbrushes and razors—there is almost no domestic market for plastics #3–7.”
With this new awareness, I think my next steps are going to be trying to reduce how much I buy that comes in plastic containers, starting with the ones I know I can’t recycle. I cannot imagine it is going to be easy.