There’s that line from the classic film “The Graduate,” when a friend of his parents tells a young Dustin Hoffman, whose character is flailing around after his college graduation, that the future is in “plastics.”

That film was made nearly 60 years ago.

Today, there’s a growing movement to make plastics a thing of the past, too, as their environmental and health hazards become clearer.

Will it be possible, given their ubiquity, to eliminate plastics? No. We love them because they’re lightweight, resilient, versatile and durable. But there’s compelling evidence that we would be wise to reduce our use — and an increasing number of government regulations ban some uses and put high price tags on others.

The organization PlasticFree, along with FS, a New York-based trend forecasting and consumer insights firm, recently authored a joint white paper and hosted a webinar on “The Post-Plastic Economy,” looking at the problem with plastics and how manufacturers, retailers, brands and others can transition beyond them.

Plastics find their way into design firms, too, and we’ve got some ways for you to think about removing them from your offices and projects. But first: Why are plastics such a problem?

First, plastics are everywhere: on every continent, in the water, in the air, inside our bodies. “We are living on a plastic planet,” says Emma Grace Bailey, head of content for PlasticFree, who refers to plastics as “fossil fuels in solid form.” PlasticFree, founded in 2023, is a platform to help creatives discover alternative materials, connect with makers and make systemic changes to move beyond plastic.

Given the widespread use of plastics and plastic pollution, restrictions are increasingly common. Some 60 countries have banned or placed levies on plastic packaging or single-use plastic, Bailey says, and 175 countries have signed onto a United Nations agreement to address plastic pollution. More restrictions will be coming.

You may not think much about plastics in your interior design business, but they’re there: from the pens you use to jot down notes during client calls to the packaging that envelopes nearly every piece of furniture and accessory you purchase for projects.

Single-use plastic is especially pernicious. Take an inventory of your offices and look for all the places you use plastics, from the soap dispensers in the bathroom to the water bottles you offer clients. There are alternatives for virtually all these products, including single servings of water in cardboard containers. Maybe it’s time to embrace old-school refillable fountain pens. Stores offering refillable cleaning products are popping up around the country. Is there one in your city?

You can also use glass or ceramic containers whenever you can. If you see your staff using plastic containers for their lunches, think about buying glass alternatives and reusable sandwich bags as a staff appreciation gift. Get creative.

Plastics are less common in high-end home design, but if you are shopping and sourcing home furnishings with an eye toward avoiding plastics, you might be surprised by the number of items you buy that include some plastic. 

One way we think it is great to use plastics in design: vintage pieces!

Amazon is phasing out the use of those little plastic air-filled pillows and other plastic delivery packaging from its North American shipments, using crumpled paper and cardboard insulators instead. The company says the alternatives offer just as much protection.

That’s notable because the area where designers are most likely to encounter large amounts of plastics is, in fact, in your warehouse when receiving product shipments. And there’s not much you can do about that on your end.

But you can ask your vendors if they can use alternative protective packaging. If it’s not available now, let them know how much you would appreciate them investigating other options. Gentle pressure campaigns, with enough people behind them, can help to make change.(Last week, I wrote about how to design for climate change. You can read that here.)