My Thoughts On Life

Disposable Cups. Disposable Phones. Disposable. Disposable. Disposable.

Every day there is a new product on the market, or an older product being revamped, that somehow incorporates the idea of easy disposal when it’s no longer needed. Anything a person can think of is in some way becoming disposable. It’s very scary if you stop and think about it for a second. How many items you throw away in the trash every day. How frequently you have to take the trash out.

I know that as consumers we have gotten used to the concept of:

Buy → Use → Trash

We are so used to it that we don’t even think twice about it. We have forgotten completely about the time when ketchup and soda came in glass bottles, and that those glass bottles were given back to be reused. We have forgotten a life without paper towels and plastic bags.

What Would We Do Without Them?

I really think that we took a wrong turn 10 or 20 years ago when we went down this path of disposable products. When plastic completely took over as the proper method to store things. When plastic became an essential part of our daily lives. Because if you really think about it, plastic is what replaced glass bottles, metal silverwear, paper and cloth bags, and even wooden and metal playground equipment.

I’m not sure how or if we can revert back to the days when disposable was not common-place. I am sure that we should stop and think about how we can individually decrease our usage of disposable items. For example, looking at Project GreenBag and grocery stores such as Whole Foods Market where they are trying to cut down on the usage of plastic grocery bags. Take a look at their bags:

Take some time, right now, and think about how you can reduce your usage of disposable items. I sure know that I would like to have a “friendly” talk with the genius that came up with the plastic playground. I don’t see how anyone would like those things with the amount of static electricity that builds up as a poor kid tries to slide down a slide. That kid better hope his parents didn’t make him wear sandals because his feet are going to be in for a big surprise. I sure do miss playgrounds made from wood and metal.

Check Out These Cool Websites Supporting Our Environment …

• ecoficial (Twitter: @ecoficial)
• WWF-World Wide Fund For Nature (Twitter: @WWF)
• WWF-Global Climate Deal (Twitter: @WWF_Climate)
• Greenpeace International (Twitter: @Greenpeace)
• Project GreenBag (Twitter: @ProjectGreenBag)
• Green Upgrader (Twitter: @greenupgrader)
• Sustainable Traditions (Twitter: @sustainabletrad)
• Friends of The Earth (Twitter: @wwwfoecouk)
• Earth Hour (Twitter: @earthhour)
• Brighter Planet (Twitter: @brighterplanet)
• Planet Forward (Twitter: @planet_forward)
• Greener Lives (Twitter: @greenerlives)

This entry was posted on Tuesday, June 2nd, 2009 at 3:32 pm and is filed under awareness, environment, thoughts. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.