The trend began with paper towels and paper napkins. It progressed with disposable diapers, following closely by diaper wipes.
Now we’ve got disposable baby washcloths for bathtime. Disposable face washing cloths and now “pillows” with the cleanser built right in. Disposable plates and cutlery being advertised as something meant for everyday, in-home use. Disposable storage ware being promoted due to its cheapness when compared to the stuff that’s meant to kept and reused over a long period of time. Disposable scrubbing sponges for the kitchen, and now, disposable dishwashing cloths that are meant to be used for one sink full of dishes then tossed away.
All of these products are either plastic or some combination of paper, plastic and fabric, none of them are going to easily decompose or biodegrade. It’s widely reported that the average American generates more than 4 pounds of garbage every single day. Our landfills are growing more and more filled every day, and .
So why are we being sold on this notion that we need to exacerbate that problem with a bunch of products which only live up to the promises that they make – usually some combination of time-savings and extra cleanliness – for the most jaded, overextended or lazy members of our society?
Reduce, Reuse and Recycle has been the motto of conservationists, ecologists and environmental protection advocates for more than two decades. This is a message which should’ve been beaten into everyone’s head by now. The more we trash, the more our world is trashed.
So what is it about us as a society that companies think that we’re now ripe for this onslaught of cheaply made, overpriced, pollution-causing, environment-harming disposable crap?
Companies are right - we are lazy and don’t care. You would not believe how many of my “greenie” friends use swifters and throw-away picnic blankets and so forth.
Throw away PICNIC BLANKETS??? Jeezus what next throw away picnic BASKETS? I cannot believe how much trash we throw away either. In my complex we have 4 dumpsters that are emptied EVERY DAY because if they aren’t they overflow. I see people throwing away perfectly good, reusable items that could be donated to someone that needs it. I’m talking mostly about couches, tables, beds… just this morning there was a head and footboard for a brass bed sitting beside the dumpster because it was over full. I took it in the house, cleaned it up and took it to my cousins house because they didn’t have a bed persay. They were sleeping on mattresses on the floor. Now they have a VERY nice bed that only cost me 5 dollars because I had to get the bed rails to go under the bed. unnecessary disposable things irritate me. Whats up with the disposable dusting mitts? Have people forgotten how to use old washcloths as cleaning rags?
Maybe they sat it next to the dumpster in hopes that someone would see it that wanted it and pick it up, and the fact that it was full was a coincidence.
I know I’ve sat out stuff I didn’t want deliberately hoping someone would see and take it. Could be wishful thinking, though.
And yeah, the amount of throw-away stuff regularly irritates me too. it’s gotten to the point where I don’t even like getting anything but fast food (wrapped in paper or cardboard sleeves) takeout because they hoist all these styrofoam (I know it’s not technically styrofoam) containers on you, paper bags inside plastic bags, plastic cutlery and so on. I think the paper plates and napkins bother me less than the amount of superfluous packing material that a lot of manufacturers use, and stuff made of plastic that isn’t going to disentigrate in a couple of years.
As a minor hijack. Another is things like boomboxes and radios that are almost cheaper to replace than fix. Had a CD/Boombox $75 to fix or $99 to replace. I probably could have fixed it myself but could not get it open. Radio I wear on my arm, velcro wearing out. Cannot find a replacement. Need to get a new $50 radio because of a $2 piece of velcro. Makes me sick
This is also a peeve of mine. Yes, there is too much disposable stuff being promoted. Like those “cutting sheets” that you cut up your food on and then throw out the whole sheet.
I think this trend is driven by a number of factors:
New materials/fabricating technology that allows for the cheap manufacture of these multi-material products. “We build it because we can.”
Some of these new products actually are better IMO than the traditional ones - that swiffer fabric really does pick up the grit better than any broom or mop.
These products feed into the growing (seemingly) germo-o-phobia of the general public. (Never mind the fallacy of this belief in many instances.)
We’re used to throwing things away and disposal is cheap (or the true cost is not borne by the disposer).
We’re lazy.
Anyway, it’s definitely a trend and it doesn’t seem to be abating.
Both this and the trend for ridiculous amounts/layers of packaging are unfortunate. And don’t get me started on all this “single serving” stuff (tube o’ pudding, PB, whatever).
The museum in which I work is a big consumer of these things, as well as Swiffer dusting cloths. The reason why is the residue that the traditional method of Pledge-and-a-rag leaves behind on surfaces. Furniture polish residue can seriously damage the finish of antiques.
America’s love of convenience is causing it to be awash in a sea of overpackaging and disposable goods. It is estimated that some 25% of all landfills are now disposable diapers. Imagine what will happen to the water table when all that fecal material finally reaches it.
Simple reuse and recycling can make a huge difference in the impact we make on this world. Most average people are completely clueless about where this stuff comes from and where it goes after being discarded. Many more people just plain do not care. All of them should be forced to do ocean beach or highway clean-up so they would have a better picture of how our world is polluted by this sort of needless crap.
I do my best to boycott products that are overpackaged. I really dislike those juice boxes that are cellophane shrink wrapped, have a separately wrapped straw and cannot be recycled because of the foil interlayer in the container. We really need a “green tax” on such wasteful products.
Aaron has particularly sensitive skin, which means no cloth diapers at home. We had to play musical diapers because some brands encouraged diaper rashes so severe that he’s had broken skin and fungal infestation. Huggies brand diapers seem to have solved the problem. Also, he’s in daycare, and under no circumstances do they allow cloth. It’s disposable or nothing.
We use a lot of disposables when we travel, as well. We’ve used disposable sippy cups. We reuse them where possible, but if Mommy is a ditz (as she so often is ;)), we’re not out a sippy cup that cost $4.00, we’re out a sippy cup that cost $0.50. Ditto for disposable feeding spoons, but since Aaron has grown to the point where he can eat with regular utensils, it’s a non-issue. Disposable bibs are a necessity because it’s much easier (and cleaner) to use and toss one than it is to pack a supply of clean bibs that start to smell once they get dirty. I’ve also had a broken jar of baby food in Aaron’s diaper bag that soaked into the two clean bibs that were in there, causing two moldy bibs that had to be tossed. Cost of a Bibster: $0.16. Cost of the two ruined bibs? At least five bucks. They were nice bibs.
At home, of course, we don’t use the disposables; they’re too expensive for daily use. Well, we do use the Bibsters and diapers, but that’s about it.
I find this hard to believe. Only a very small percentage of households even use diapers, and in those, the diapers represent only a fraction of their garbage. If you use cloth diapers as an alternative to disposable ones, then have you analyzed the environmental impact of washing the cloth ones vs. disposing of the plastic ones? I doubt the case against disposable diapers is that clear-cut.
As for the water table comment, modern sanitary landfills are designed specifically so that they don’t drain to the water supply. (Plus there already is fecal material in the water supply. What do you think the fish produce?)
Finally, people talk about how it’s terrible that these plastic products aren’t biodegradable. Well, nothing much degrades in a landfill, even paper.
Paper and other degradable items do break down to some extent in landfills – if you ever go to one you’ll see numerous stacks which are in place to vent off methane and other gasses. Those gasses are a by-product of the decomposition which is occuring down in the lower layers of the piles. Like composting, the work is really done inside where there is a good mixture of moisture, heat, bacteria and helpful critters who eat a lot and then add to the moisture level and helpful bacteria count with their waste products.
Paper isn’t clogging landfills on its own, it’s when it’s mixed with fabric (like those facial cloths and baby wipes) or plastic (like in disposable diapers) or coated with wax (like ice cream containers) or sandwiched with metal (juice boxes) that paper becomes a problem.
We won’t even discuss the rampaging selfishness and disregard for humanity engendered in those who don’t recycle.
You might be surprised just how little things break down in landfills. An Arizona univeristy has been doing archaelogical digs, and they’ve found garbage 50 or more years old in practically pristine condition. Even food rubbish was easily identifiable. Newspapers were in better condition having been buried than they would have been lying on a shelf (which is due to the lack of exposure to air.)
The largest contributor to landfills is construction debris, which makes sense, if you think about it. The many tons of rubble that come from just one building makes household garbage look paltry in comparison.
Landfills are not the biggest risk to ground water, either. A substantial amount of effort goes into sealing them. (I was surprised when I read about all of the different methods they use.) The biggest threat comes from chemicals which are dumped directly into rivers, drains, and sewers.
You’d be surprised how many people dispose of dangerous chemicals, and even house paint by simply pouring it down the drain or onto the ground. In fact, one city stopped running chemical recylcling campaigns because it was found that it actually * increased * the number of people who disposed of them incorrectly. They figure it’s because they got people thinking about all of those half-empty paint cans and pesticides lurking in their garages, but rather than expend the effort in recycling them properly, they would just dump it.
If you don’t use Pledge like products then you don’t have the problem. I can’t use thst stuff because I’m allergic to some of the chemicals they use. I still use the rag lightly dampened with WATER. Within a couple seconds of wiping, the water evaporates and I just follow behind with a dry rag if I want to polish the item.
Did you know that crumpled up newspaper can clean windows?
My curator would faint dead away of he found me using water-dampened rags on any of our wood artifacts. Even though the water evaporates quickly, it’s not a good idea, since wetting the surface and letting it dry over and over can damage the surface over the long term. Humidity is an enemy of wood furniture.
Whether or not things actually break down in landfills is rather beside the point of the OP – if things do break down, great, but that’s no help with the disposable things which are in no way degradable. If things don’t break down, even normally degradable things like paper and food wastes, then it makes the introduction of all of this non-degradable disposable crap all that more irresponsible and mind-boggling.
What it comes down to, IMO, is this – we are currently each responsible for putting 1,460 pounds of stuff into landfills every year. Each of us. Some of us – consumers of overwrapped, completely unrecyclable products, consumers of disposable products (like those mentioned in the OP) which take the place of readily available, completely practical and easily utilized reusable products, consumers of disposable baby products, consumers of disposable female sanitary products, those who refuse to recycle even when programs are readily available – are not only putting out more than our fair share, but doing so in a fashion which is entirely avoidable and places even more of a strain on our overflowing landfills, overburdened waste management systems, and aching environment.
And there’s just no reason for it – on the part of the consumer, nor the irresponsible corporate monoliths who are foisting all of this ridiculous one-use nonsense on the public with specious arguments (appeals to economy and cleanliness which sound good until you analyze them for a half of a nanosecond) deserve all the scorn, derision and boycotting we can muster or them.
(the throw-away picnic blankets are made of material similar to the “reuseable” paper towels)
…
I think some here are panicking over nothing, quite frankly.
Consider this: most trash (95%) is generated in the manufacturing cycle, not the end-consumer cycle. And now most recycling that is done (by weight) is also in the manufacturing cycle–something like 90%. But most recyclable materials are essentially degenerate, in that the quality of recycled material is not as high as virgin material would be, and processing it so that it is only generates more pollution, and drives up the cost to where recycling isn’t economically viable at all. Take paper for instance: it recycles easily, but what results is usually brown paper, because bleaching it adds more cost and generates more pollution (dioxin!). So overall, it’s better to try to find more uses for brown paper than it is to try to process low-grade recycled brownpaper back into high-quality white resume paper.
So now if we presume that “irresponsible corporate monoliths” have taken to recycling more than ever, they will have a large supply of low-cost, fairly low-quality material on hand, and they will have to use it for something. Nobody would buy permanent dinner ware made out of the stuff… -but… they might buy some very inexpensive, practically disposeable food storage containers. Or some very inexpensive, disposeable wash cloths. Or something else disposeable, because the grade of the material simply isn’t good enough that average people would consider buying something made out of it as a durable good.
Manufacturers know everything about what they make, including what it costs, and how much of the material gets wasted, and how much money they lose by wasting that material. For large production, costs are often figured down to a thousandth of a cent, if not farther. Do you know how much the white lettering on a tire costs? Goodyear does. Do you know how much money the red ink used on a box of Cheerios costs? General Mills does. Do you know how much the pop-tab on a can of soda costs? Coca-Cola does. If you think that you can magically do everything better and cheaper than they can, have at it, scooter. Say 'Hi" to Bill Gates for me when you move in next door to him.
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