Just get a refurbished film camera like the excellent Canon AE-1 Program and enjoy film photography.
The chemicals used for developing color film are bad enough already, no need to add pollution by single use plastic to the problem again.
The chemicals used for developing color film are bad enough already, no need to add pollution by single use plastic to the problem again.
AE-1s are notoriously fragile. Their light meters break pretty easily, and then there's the shutter squeak of doom. Plenty of more reliable SLRs can be had for less money. Then there's the price - they're stupidly expensive, in part because of the influencers causing beginners to flock to them on eBay. I find the AE-1's shutter priority mode less useful than aperture priority on other cameras.
If you already have an AE-1 and you like it, don't get rid of it because of my comment. If you haven't bought a 35mm SLR yet, take a good look at the Canon T70, Minolta X-700, and Nikon N2000. All of them match or beat the AE-1/AE-1P in feature set, all can be had for cheaper than an AE-1, and all of them are better-made.
I’d probably start by trying to find a local camera club that probably has some camera gear to loan/rent.