Sure, throw it away. Throw everything away!

The BBQ Pit
1

Not meaning to sound like an eco-freak here, but doesn’t it bother anyone else that manufacturers seem to be in a race to come up with more and more disposable items?

To begin with, there were paper towels. Okay, they have their uses. But then plain paper towels weren’t good enough, you had to have a whole variety of them, each pre-soaked with a different cleaning solution. Ones for your kitchen, ones for your bathroom, ones for the windows, ones with disinfectants… Each in neat little plastic dispensers, also to be tossed away.

Or special ones with water-proof barriers on one side, to keep goop from soaking through. “Disposable cutting boards”, so you cut your chicken on them once and toss them out. No mess on the counter, they boast, though why that should bother you, I don’t know. After all, they sold your those disposable disinfectant kitchen wipes just last week. If your counters aren’t going to get dirty, when will you be able to use those?

Now, of course, there are disposable toilet brushes. Yes, after wiping down the outside of your toilet with your special-purpose disposable bathroom wipe, next you get out your special handle, attach a disposable toilet ‘brush’, and clean the inside.

Heck, what’s next? Disposable toilets, maybe? “Never clean a toilet again! Use our amazing 'no plumbing needed toilet with patented dry-sorb crystals once, then pull the drawstring tight and add it to that mountain of disposable crap heaped at the end of your driveway. A fresh clean toilet every time, and no cleaning ever!”

Sheesh.

What ever happened to that shortage of garbage disposal sites that used to be in the news. Remember that barge-load of NYC garbage that virtually circled the globe? How can the same society be pressing for the recycling of every bottle, can, and newpaper and at the same time, continually trying to replace every durable, buy once-use forever item with single use disposables?

Are we all mad? Or just the manufacturers?

2

Oh, preach it, sister! I’m no tree hugger, myself, but this is getting ridiculous. Disposable cleaning cloths for every cleaning job. Disposable dish cloths pre-filled with detergent, and the list keeps growing! Why? I guess because people keep buying these things. Not me! Guess what I mop my floor with? A sponge mop that doesn’t have anything on it that you throw away afterward. Guess what I clean my counters with? Lysol spray and a sponge. My cutting boards? Lysol spray and a sponge. My toilet? Clorox bleach and a toilet brush. Oh, sure the commercials say that my toilet brush is crawling with bacteria. Why would it be? It was just in a bunch of bleach. And anyway, it’s not like I’m gonna scrub the toilet then wash the baby’s back with it! What do I wash my dishes with? A dish cloth onto which I squirt some dish liquid. At the end of the day, I throw that dish cloth in the washing machine, and lay out a clean one for the next day. Why is this so hard? I do use paper towels for certain things (really, the only cleaning thing I use them for is windows, mirrors, and monitors with glass cleaner; otherwise, I use them for draining fried food), but the manufacturers just keep trying to sell us on disposable stuff. I guess it’s in their best interest to do so, because if something is disposable, we have to re-buy it every week or two. From their point of view, it’s a sweet deal. From my point of view, it’s just silly.

3

I have posted, several times, that the Bodoni Household uses string bags for groceries. We also use cloth tote bags and we have invested in a couple of insulated bags for cold stuff. We are very happy about the insulated bags in particular. Now our ice cream doesn’t get soft and mushy and then refreeze with ice crystals.

I think that more people should start using string or cloth bags for their shopping. Most store clerks are delighted to pack my purchased items into a cloth or string bag.

We’ve gone to mostly using dish towels in our household, too.

4

It’s an evil conspiracy to make us look inept and unwomanly if we don’t have the whole array of cleaning products (although, I have an aussie, they shed like nobody’s business, and you can have my swiffer when you pry it from my cold dead fingers :D).

Other than that, I’m all about recycling and reuse. I even cut up ruined stockings into rings to use for ponytail holders !!!

5

I keep hoping someone will eventually find a way to use all of our garbage as fuel, and then we’ll break even.

But maybe I’m optimistic…

6

I dunno, I was thinking of trying those disposable toilet brush heads myself. Mostly because I seem to have problems making the stream of toilet bowl cleaner reach the inside of the rim, thus causing a lot of the gunk to remain. Plus I’m pretty disgusted when that large brush causes a spray of water all over the place.

But generally I agree with the OP. One of the features of the inside back cover of Consumer Reports that infuriates me on some level is when they show the ongoing race to see how much packaging manufacturers can put onto one small object.

7

Well, we sortof can by composting. The clean paper stuff (newspapers, junk mail) can be used to start woodstoves (though I HATE heating with wood, so messy), but it’s great for cooking marshmellows over :smiley:

Some trash can be used for cool crafting projects. Mint tins for one. Milk carton “ice candles” those are always fun. We used to rinse the milk cartons really really well, fill them up with water, and then use them to put into coolers to go camping, instead of buying bags of ice.

Then of course, as the ice melts, the cartons themselves can be used as starters for campfires, with all that wax, they tend to make good tender.

Coffee cans, margarine containers, and jars with lids are infinitely useful. Especially for organizing a garage or sewing room.

Even grocery bags can be reused over and over. I don’t have any cloth or string bags, but the grocery in my home town used to have a big bin with used bags in it. You just picked up a bunch of them, and then gave them to the clerk to bag up your groceries.

8

One day I was trying to find paper hot cups for an NDP meeting I was organizing. You know, paper. Just like at Tim’s or Second Cup. I know they exist. But apparently, they are not available for retail purchase anywhere in this city. What did they have? Styrofoam. sigh

Have we realized yet that industry is not going to solve this problem for us?

9

Oh, and two more things:

You mean you don’t mind potentially salmonella-infected goo on your counters? The whole marketing point is to avoid food poisoning and contamination from meats, either from a regular cutting board (which people for some reason don’t even think of splashing some bleach on to disinfect) or from the stuff running off the edges of the board onto the counter.

But the aforementioned Consumer Reports tried 'em out, and, as expected, they’re not worth a crap for standing up to sharp knives, so it’s kinda moot. Plus I think I understand now that you mean that you’d just clean it up.

Too late. :smiley:

10

That seems like a good idea but I was wondering about how many cloth bags do you usually take for each trip to the store. Also, what happens if you underestimate how much you need to buy and end up with more groceries than your bags will hold?

11

Brilliant! When can you have a working prototype ready? I want to get Marketing on this as soon as possible!

:smiley:

12

Preach it, sister. I thought we were trying to cut down on landfill, not bury ourselves in 117 different kinds of moistened towlettes.

…While we’re on the topic of trash, does anyone know what you do with old pillows (the bed kind)? I can’t imagine anyone would want donated pillows, but I can’t quite bring myself to throw away such a huge item, either.

13

How about “slices” of peanut butter? I think I saw those advertised somewhere. Apparently spreading peanut butter on bread is too hard, so we need it in pre-spread in plastic pouches like American cheese.

I try to cut down on trash by buying dry goods (oats, rice, pasta) in bulk and reusing the bags. I also use a cloth grocery bag or two when I shop. Sometimes I buy too much and need a plastic bag too, but the clerks are always happy to supplement my bag supply with one.

I also compost when I have access to a backyard. Unfortunately right now I’m living in an apartment, so a lot of potential fertilizer gets thrown away. Very sad.

14

It depresses me to no end that being earth friendly was just another silly boomer trend that peaked in 1986 with Sting’s career.

15

Wash them really well. Tear out and “refluff” the filling, and you can reuse it to stuff other things, throw pillows, a dog bed, halloween costume? (one of mary’s little lambs?).

16

Mr. Fusion, Guin? :slight_smile:

17

Money. They want our money, who cares if the garbage is piling up in massive dunes. Money makes the world go ‘round so it’s ok… right? Personally, I don’t buy the newest toss-away conveniences either. It’s downright sick how much of this stuff is out there. I might hug a tree every once in awhile but that’s only because they need it, too. This crap They are selling is pure evil and should be banned. We don’t "need’ these items; no, we don’t.

It’s convenient for us doesn’t = it’s convenient for the environment.

18

[QUOTE …does anyone know what you do with old pillows (the bed kind)? I can’t imagine anyone would want donated pillows, but I can’t quite bring myself to throw away such a huge item, either.[/QUOTE]

Arts-and crafts types, especially quilters, love them, provided they don’t smell bad.

19

Does anyone else here use handkerchiefs instead of disposable tissues? I’m as far from a treehugger as one can be, but tissues are simply inconvenient.

20

Ok, provided they do smell bad, what then? (who throws away a pillow that don’t smell bad yet? :D)