View Full Version : Have all things DISPOSABLE earned a rightful place/spot in society today?
Let's role the clock back to the early 70's, a time when few things disposable existed. Working from memory I'm thinking there were disposable pens?, and I definitely know there were disposable paper plates (I remember disposable paper plates from neighbourhood and family birthday parties), and disposable diapers definitely were around, albeit still in the infancy stage, having not as of yet earned a rightful spot in the minds of mothers or their homes, but not many things disposable were available.
Today however EVERYTHING to a degree seems to be disposable and what few things aren't (at least so it seems), the option of purchasing those things disposable is available (as an option) for those willing.
So as we continue to throwaway society at the rate we are throwing it away, I ask, "have all things DISPOSABLE earned a rightful spot in society today"? By rightful I mean meaningful and critical. In other words WE, CANNOT, AS A SOCIETY, POSSIBLY, CONTINUE ON, PROGRESSING FORWARD, WITHOUT THEM... OR, are we simply the recipients of market greed and expansion with no way of ever obtaining the power to say NO, NO MORE?
No, I don't think disposable items are meaningful or critical. I think we're just too lazy to clean or refill or otherwise maintain the non-disposable items. Much easier to toss them and go buy another if we want it.
Most disposable items are about as critical as some of the things you see in the produce section: Plastic-wrapped individual potatoes. Plastic-wrapped bags of celery cut into perfect sticks. And all the rest.
For the most part, as a society, at least here in North America, we've become fat, lazy, wasteful, ignorant, and spoiled rotten. And then we feel we have the right to bark at other nations about "the right way to live," and get angry when we're criticized.
But we ALL have a choice. I buy almost nothing disposable except TP. Even the occasional paper towels I use go into the compost pile. Just me though.
Sometimes I can't understand why the US is so far behind some of the European countries on environmental issues. It seems like we should be an example for the rest of the world, being the global super power. This is an interesting article about how Germany handles disposables. I think disposables are a fairly big problem, but at least some of the solutions seem pretty simple. And Germany's economy seems to be flourishing.
http://www.howtogermany.com/pages/recycling.html
well, the US is a much younger culture with a different history and what not. So, it would make sense that it's not similar to europe in many ways. bummer too, much of europe does a lot of things right.
anyhoot, people think i'm rather nuts. We really have very little to dispose of on a regular basis. Once I get my bokashi bin and worm farm going, we'll literally just be throwing away the wrappers to things (if we can't get them any other way).
some of the wrappers are paper, so i can rinse and recycle them. I'm trying to go to suppliers that sell in bulk and use paper bags or paper wrapping (butchers). this way, I can recycle quite a bit more!
My next jump is *back* to loose leaf tea. Tea bags, man, tea bags. I have so many. that is my waste. tea bags.
I'm getting there. Trying to get to near-zero waste.
Bastelmutti
6-7-11, 9:30am
I really appreciate disposables in the medical context, but otherwise nope, we can do without so many of them - I'm especially thinking of household items and fast food containers, water bottles, etc.
I really appreciate disposables in the medical context, but otherwise nope, we can do without so many of them - I'm especially thinking of household items and fast food containers, water bottles, etc.
Yes, the medical issue is a good point. There certainly are situations and segments of the population (e.g., those with compromised immune systems) that depend on disposables. But the average household with generally healthy inhabitants? Nope, it's pretty wasteful.
We used to have to use paper towels and small containers of antibacterial soap (i.e., we weren't allowed to refill the dispenser from a large refill container) when my husband was on dialysis and I hated that. But obviously, there was a good reason for it, and now that he's post-transplant, he doesn't need those precautions any more (even with a medically-supressed immune system!).
The only disposables in our house: floss, toothbrushes, and toilet paper. And yeah, I know there are non-disposable options for both of those, but I can live with our current amount of trash. I also take care to purchase things with as little packaging as possible. Cooking mostly from scratch, composting, and recycling automatically cuts down on trash.
The biggest reason why I can't understand why the general population is so disposable-happy? The cost. Buying paper towels and zip-locs and paper plates for daily use is expensive. I mean, I get that not everyone is going to care about resources and landfills and the environment like I do. But household budgets are important (to different degrees) for everyone.
Kara
i agree with the medical stuff.
I also have to say that the toothbrushes, floss, and toilet paper are our big ones. I'd like to do family cloth instead of toilet paper, and I can't figure out an alternative for floss, and I haven't quite worked out the tooth brush thing either.
The only disposables in our house: floss, toothbrushes, and toilet paper. And yeah, I know there are non-disposable options for both of those, but I can live with our current amount of trash. I also take care to purchase things with as little packaging as possible. Cooking mostly from scratch, composting, and recycling automatically cuts down on trash.
Kara
What are the non-disposable options for those three things?
for toilet paper, you can use family cloth-- which are cloth rags that you then wash. A friend of mine keeps a small basket of dry cloth next to the toilet, and then also a small jar (with a lid) that has water and tea tree oil in it. She rinses the wipe in the sink (if there is excrement on it), and then puts it in the jar. When the jar is full, she puts it into a load of wash with other things (such as towels and sheets), and then dries (line or machine), and so on. Hers are from old t-shirts, so they are quite soft and comfortable.
I would do that for sure, but my husband is against it. I figure we could do TP/FC side-by-side, but he's not keen on the idea *at all*. I did cloth wipes with DS when he was a baby, so there's no reason why I can't do it again.
There are several "eco toothbrushes" on the market, and here's a blog about them (http://myzerowaste.com/2010/08/zero-waste-toothbrushes/).
I still haven't found a replacement for floss, though.
Yeah, for toothbrushes, I know there are companies that recycle them (so, not technically non-disposable) and there are some manual brushes that have replaceable heads, so less waste. But, right now, I'm going with the cheapest option, which is the "free" disposable brush every 6 months from my dentist.
For floss, I've never actually even looked into other options; I just assume they are out there. I could certainly rinse it off to use it more than once. But I don't wanna. And I know for a fact that floss is crucial to my dental health, so I'm not not using it, either.
Kara
I don't think anyone is saying you should. :)
I still floss; I haven't found a viable alternative. But, I also haven't looked that hard. I used to use those from the dentist, but the dentist here doesn't give them away. Interesting. Also, we only go once a year (when you pay $115 out of pocket for a cleaning, you tend to only go once a year). So, we do have to buy our brushes, and we've been buying cheap/disposable, but I'd like to move away from that (i think). We shall see.
I know one can make his/her own toothpowder, too -- which is something we are considering -- instead of toothpaste, which has waste in it's container/wrapper. Thinking about it. :) I haven't used tooth powder in a lot of years.
Ah, here is some well-reviewed floss -- it's still disposable, but plastic free and biodegradable: Eco-dent floss. I also found a compostable toothbrush on this web site. (http://www.choosecrueltyfree.org.nz/health.php)
Actually, I found a lot of nice things at that site. :D
Lost of great input everybody. I sometimes feel a little sheepish when I start thread topics on disposable things/stuff, but it's a hobby horse of mine and I find about twice yearly (after holding in my frustration) the lid lets go and the pot bursts at the seams! I simply cannot contain it.
I agree with you that when it comes to the medical world, some things disposable ARE better, just as I have learned to accept that a certain degree of disposable diaper use in homes is also acceptable, however for much of the rest I seethe at the gums.
Consumer clout is all we have left to fight this nasty market, yet as days turn to years, years to decades, and so on and so forth, the market and hunger for throwaway continues to expand and grow exponentially. Even things such as appliances and vehicles, things (traditionally and stereotypically) once thought of as being made to last (for a very long time), are today being manufactured cheaply and poorly as if to galvanize early replacement.
As I stated earlier, this is a hobby horse of mine and there are times (like these) where I no longer have the patience to control the gentle simmer of my frustration over the matter. As a SL practitioner looking in from the outside, WE... ARE... NOT... DOING... ENOUGH! (We as in society).
By the way I appreciate all the links!
I always think it's an interesting exercise, to be honest.
This is tangential, but funny.
Back in the US, we had a prius. a 2007 prius and we loved it. It was our only (family) car, and it was so awesome to drive. When we long for a car here, we long for a prius. :D Of course, a 2007 prius costs about $30k NZ, and that's beyond our means. So, DH said "Why can't we just find a silver prius for $2k? huh?" I said, "maybe we can."
So, we go online and we find a place called "Green Cars Only" -- it's a dealership in Auckland. They import used green cars from Japan -- prius and the minivan mostly. We found a second generation prius for $2k in silver. It's not the lovely body of the 1999-2008 model (same as our 07), but it is a hybrid car.
Thing is, battery (and car) is designed to go kaput in 8 years. In japan, they go through cars like crazy -- most people lease for two years, then trade up, and keep right on going with that forever. So, our market (nz) gets a lot of japanese cars. Some good, some not so good. This company focuses entirely on the hybrid.
Anyway, funny thing is, you would think that this would be a problem, since obviously a 1997-2003 prius or other hybrid would be kaput, right?
*wrong* Kiwi Ingenuity! Apparently, they spent several years figuring out how to better recondition the battery and make the batteries more efficient to boot! They only put a two year warranty on it, BUT they have batteries that have been going since 2005 without need of repair.
What is so fascinating is that many of these cars look great, and basically anything body style prior to the trademark prius look is pretty affordable. once you get to the second body style (2000 or so), then the price jumps about $5k.
Still, looks like we'll save up and get an old prius after all. Some things you just don't throw away. :)
Love it Zoebird! Thanks. :) Had to go in a Google Prius to see the style of the car you were talking about and as soon as I looked at a picture of one I thought- "yup, I know them"!
My peeve is all that rigid plastic bubble stuff - supposedly to prevent shoplifitng, make it easier to display, etc. On mail order items :-(
I'd love to see big shippers like Amazon request/require alternative packaging on some of the stuff they ship - so instead of a sizable Amazon box + packaging material to hold a huge 10" x 12" x 4" bubble pack, they could just ship the 2" x 2" x 4" box that is put in the bubble pack.
That it would not take 20 minutes to cut the item out of the bubble pack would just be a pleasant bonus :-)
What an excellent idea Creaker! All ways of eliminating and reducing. Maybe as online shopping and buying grows, maybe we'll see changes in the packaging industry. Would be so nice.
Zoebird, what a wonderful story. I wonder if the reconditioned Prius batteries are available here in the U.S. as well....and if they've done any better with the new Nissan Leaf, which I admire.
I'm not sure if the technology is available in the US. but just look up greencarsonly.co.nz and you'll find links to the batteries and what they do to recondition them.
My peeve is all that rigid plastic bubble stuff - supposedly to prevent shoplifitng, make it easier to display, etc. On mail order items :-(
I'd love to see big shippers like Amazon request/require alternative packaging on some of the stuff they ship - so instead of a sizable Amazon box + packaging material to hold a huge 10" x 12" x 4" bubble pack, they could just ship the 2" x 2" x 4" box that is put in the bubble pack.
That it would not take 20 minutes to cut the item out of the bubble pack would just be a pleasant bonus :-)
That would certainly seem like a doable thing. I can remember when cd's stopped being packaged in their case with a big box surrounding that. All the record stores were against it, certain that shoplifting would increase. Of course, now buying cd's is an antiquated idea all on its own... It took me a while, but once I realized that I could have instant gratification, I started loving the iTunes store!
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