totally wasted
For my August column for The Noise, I’m looking at a different side of sustainability. Instead of interrogating the things we use (and should discontinue using…), I’m taking a look at what we throw away. More broadly, I want to examine the way in which our culture understands the concept of waste.
Many cities are thinking more critically about outdated materials that are used once, used rampantly, and do not biodegrade. San Francisco recently banned plastic bags in supermarkets and pharmacies. A few years ago, Eugene banned all use of Styrofoam for local businesses. I think it would be easy for Flagstaff to implement such bans, but I also think we have a long way to go.
It’s 2007 and the Earth and all its life support systems are in crisis. Why do manufacturers continue to produce packaging that can only be used once? If it can’t be recycled and used again in one way or another, such as many plastics and specific papers, why do they still exist in the market?
I toured our local recycling plant yesterday morning to try and get some ideas. There were a lot of fundamental problems there and I don’t think I’ll be able to use much. For example, glass is ground up into sand (sort of…it’s still sharp glass) and citizens of Flagstaff are free to come by and pick it up for all their sand needs. But is that really recycling? Further, when everything else is crushed into cubes, they are often shipped to far away places like California. That doesn’t really cry sustainable. Also, glass, as many people know, is not picked up on the curb with the regular recycling. There are several places in town where people can take it, which is fine if you have a car and a little classist toward those who don’t.
Anyway, I don’t want to write a slam piece on local recycling because the problem is much deeper than that. (Plus, Chuck and Meredith rely on The Noise to eat and pay the bills…I don’t feel comfortable making enemies for them….Chipotle Frank already has that covered anyway!)
I’m going to discuss the issue of waste from both a practical and theoretical lenses. Here are my topics so far….can you help me think of more, faithful readers?
- The Styrofoam and plastic bag examples…
- Why do we continue producing things that can’t be recycled or used again?
- What exactly do we mean by sustainability (I figured if I keep talking about this, I should have a solid, working definition). We clearly don’t know what sustainability means because we’re the only animal on Earth that doesn’t give back and improve the land (save the cyclical infestations of locusts…etc.), let alone help to maintain the quality of life for everyone who relies on the land to live.
- I also want to discuss the issue of “wasting time” in our culture. Who is anyone to say when I am or when I’m not wasting my time. From the time we’re born to the time we die, we are given time and the time is our own. This is contrasted with the way in which we understand productivity. The idea that if I’m not being productive with my time, I’m obviously wasting it, is purely a product of western capitalist culture.
What else? I’m about to call the City Council office to investigate this bag and Styrofoam situation.
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July 19th, 2007 at 3:19 pm
Throwaway products continue to be produced because they are cheap, in the sense that many of their true costs are externalized and the cost to industry is minimal relative to alternatives. Because our economic system is set up to value profit over all other considerations, there are huge structural impediments to turning away from disposable products.
The other issue is perceived convenience, which is another way of saying that we are so time-starved in our modern post-industrial society, that even the slightest convenience — such as the ease of throwing something in the trash rather than washing, storing and re-using a more durable item — soon becomes standard operating procedure. We are forever driven toward greater personal “efficiency” as it pertains to time.
Add to that the fact that we rarely pay the true cost of an item (assuming the environmental impact of manufacture and shipping could be accurately assigned a monetary value), and it’s easy to see how we have developed a cultural bias of immediate convenience over long-term sanity.
July 19th, 2007 at 5:01 pm
Well said indeed. A great way to pursue the way our culture understands handles time, and the issue of “wasted time.” Thanks a lot. This helps.
July 20th, 2007 at 7:08 pm
I totally quoted you, without your name, in my column. Hope you’re not pissed. Let the virtual world and the real one come together!
I also never got around to discussing the issue of “wasted” time, which, initially I was looking forward to writing. Maybe next time. I did get to start off with a big rant about Live Earth…and that makes me happy.