We all have times when we try to restrict what we consume – whether it’s deleting social media apps from phones, spending less time online shopping or maybe giving up sugar. Ferrill, a staff member in DePaul’s Department of English, shares her first-hand experience placing limits on something that’s present in almost every aspect of daily life in her talk, “What I learned the year I tried to give up plastic.”

In 2015, Ferrill challenged herself to give up plastic over concern about how the material harms our environment. Any piece of plastic that she could not avoid, she would keep. For a year, as she struggled to live plastic free, she documented her experiences in a blog called dumpingplastic.com. The idea was sparked during a first-year writing class she taught at DePaul University. Today, Ferrill is the assistant director of graduate programs and department operations in DePaul’s Department of English. Previously, she worked as a grant writer in Chicago and for a nonprofit in Honduras.

In 2015, Ferrill challenged herself to give up plastic over concern about how the material harms our environment. Any piece of plastic that she could not avoid, she would keep. For a year, as she struggled to live plastic free, she documented her experiences in a blog called
dumpingplastic.com. The idea was sparked during a first-year writing class she taught at DePaul. Today, Ferrill is the assistant director of graduate programs and department operations in DePaul’s Department of English. Previously, she worked as a grant writer in Chicago and for a nonprofit in Honduras. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx