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It's incredible that corporations are allowed to pump out massive quantities of single use plastic and then we blame the consumer for not recycling it. The ide

It's incredible that corporations are allowed to pump out massive quantities of single use plastic and then we blame the consumer for not recycling it. The idea that the solution is to change the habits of billions of people rather than enforce some rules on a few thousand companies is just crazy.

gfosco 8y ago
It's the same with drought conditions in California, asking millions of people who collectively use like 7% of the water supply to sacrifice, with no attention to the small number of agriculture/industry companies using 93% of the water.
schiffern 8y ago
>The idea that the solution is to change the habits of billions of people rather than enforce some rules on a few thousand companies is just crazy. It's an idea that those companies themselves invented and promulgated. https://web.archive.org/web/20050401192355/http://www.alternet.org/envirohealth/21651/ https://web.archive.org/web/20050401192355/http://www.altern... (edit: archive to unbreak formatting) As always, follow the money.
astrodust 8y ago
The entire packaging industry is ridiculous. For example: Why do garbage bags come in boxes or bags when they could be stored inside a garbage bag that's folded up properly to contain them?
- gfosco 8y ago
  Marketing and shelf space reasons.
- ascorbic 8y ago
  I'm confused. Don't they come on rolls? The most packaging I've known for garbage bags is a paper label holding the roll together.
  - macintux 8y ago
    Not around here. They're in rolls, but boxed.
- sirmarksalot 8y ago
  That seems like a very small efficiency gain. At one bag per week, a single, recyclable cardboard box of 45 garbage bags will last you just under a year. Each box folds down to about one legal-size manilla envelope. I'm personally okay with wasting one manilla envelope per year.
  - astrodust 8y ago
    It's an example of how the product could be the packaging. You, personally, use one box per year. Cleaning companies go through a lot more. Even if it's just one box per year, it's one box that doesn't need to exist, the bag itself is more than adequate. That and the bag company has to buy boxes for no reason other than a lack of awareness on their own part.
- toomanybeersies 8y ago
  Whenever I by garbage bags, they come in a roll. The only packaging they have is a sticker for the barcode and sometimes a couple of rubber bands to keep them nicely rolled up.
  - astrodust 8y ago
    I wish they sold them here like that. Instead they come in boxes for reasons I cannot explain.
- neuralRiot 8y ago
  A big part of the problem is consumer education, we're lazy by nature and marketing takes advantage of that, i've seen 3 peeled nectarines on a foil wrapped foam tray or tuna in metallized plastic pouches or srink-wrapped cucumbers or potatoes, my coworker bring his lunch on a foam tray everyday together with plastic fork and knife these are after discarded so he doesn't have to wash anything.
dpkonofa 8y ago
Not only that but consumers can be punished for not recycling or disposing of these things properly and yet corporations not only don't have punishments for this stuff but they're incentivized to further increase the quantities produced and, on top of that, make them cheaper which further increases the likelihood of the items being non-recyclable.
djsumdog 8y ago
You know that famous Indian crying from litter on the highway campaign? It was funded by the packaging industry. It was part of a propaganda campaign (a.k.a public relations) by packaging company to place the blame on litter and non-reusable packaging on the consumer instead of the industry. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=koqNm_TgOZk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=koqNm_TgOZk
- pkulak 8y ago
  Looks exactly like the "Jaywalking" playbook: https://paleofuture.gizmodo.com/the-invention-of-jaywalking-was-a-massive-shaming-campa-858926923 https://paleofuture.gizmodo.com/the-invention-of-jaywalking-... EDIT: As an aside, the argument that buying a new car is waste always annoyed me. Maybe if I crushed my old car, but how does changing owners shorten the useable life of a car?
  - photojosh 8y ago
    Ditto for smartphones. So what if I upgrade every year, when the device I had 5 years ago is still being used by someone else and is fine for their needs?
  - lmm 8y ago
    > EDIT: As an aside, the argument that buying a new car is waste always annoyed me. Maybe if I crushed my old car, but how does changing owners shorten the useable life of a car? What's the person who buys your car doing with their old car? Presumably either crushing it or selling it on to someone with an even older car. If we assume a constant number of drivers (for simplicity) then every new car bought ultimately corresponds to one car getting disposed of.
megy 8y ago
I think we blame the person who buys it, as we should.

gfosco 8y ago

It's the same with drought conditions in California, asking millions of people who collectively use like 7% of the water supply to sacrifice, with no attention to the small number of agriculture/industry companies using 93% of the water.

schiffern 8y ago

>The idea that the solution is to change the habits of billions of people rather than enforce some rules on a few thousand companies is just crazy. It's an idea that those companies themselves invented and promulgated. https://web.archive.org/web/20050401192355/http://www.alternet.org/envirohealth/21651/ https://web.archive.org/web/20050401192355/http://www.altern... (edit: archive to unbreak formatting) As always, follow the money.

astrodust 8y ago

The entire packaging industry is ridiculous. For example: Why do garbage bags come in boxes or bags when they could be stored inside a garbage bag that's folded up properly to contain them?

gfosco 8y ago
Marketing and shelf space reasons.
ascorbic 8y ago
I'm confused. Don't they come on rolls? The most packaging I've known for garbage bags is a paper label holding the roll together.
- macintux 8y ago
  Not around here. They're in rolls, but boxed.
sirmarksalot 8y ago
That seems like a very small efficiency gain. At one bag per week, a single, recyclable cardboard box of 45 garbage bags will last you just under a year. Each box folds down to about one legal-size manilla envelope. I'm personally okay with wasting one manilla envelope per year.
- astrodust 8y ago
  It's an example of how the product could be the packaging. You, personally, use one box per year. Cleaning companies go through a lot more. Even if it's just one box per year, it's one box that doesn't need to exist, the bag itself is more than adequate. That and the bag company has to buy boxes for no reason other than a lack of awareness on their own part.
toomanybeersies 8y ago
Whenever I by garbage bags, they come in a roll. The only packaging they have is a sticker for the barcode and sometimes a couple of rubber bands to keep them nicely rolled up.
- astrodust 8y ago
  I wish they sold them here like that. Instead they come in boxes for reasons I cannot explain.
neuralRiot 8y ago
A big part of the problem is consumer education, we're lazy by nature and marketing takes advantage of that, i've seen 3 peeled nectarines on a foil wrapped foam tray or tuna in metallized plastic pouches or srink-wrapped cucumbers or potatoes, my coworker bring his lunch on a foam tray everyday together with plastic fork and knife these are after discarded so he doesn't have to wash anything.

dpkonofa 8y ago

Not only that but consumers can be punished for not recycling or disposing of these things properly and yet corporations not only don't have punishments for this stuff but they're incentivized to further increase the quantities produced and, on top of that, make them cheaper which further increases the likelihood of the items being non-recyclable.

djsumdog 8y ago

You know that famous Indian crying from litter on the highway campaign? It was funded by the packaging industry. It was part of a propaganda campaign (a.k.a public relations) by packaging company to place the blame on litter and non-reusable packaging on the consumer instead of the industry. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=koqNm_TgOZk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=koqNm_TgOZk

pkulak 8y ago
Looks exactly like the "Jaywalking" playbook: https://paleofuture.gizmodo.com/the-invention-of-jaywalking-was-a-massive-shaming-campa-858926923 https://paleofuture.gizmodo.com/the-invention-of-jaywalking-... EDIT: As an aside, the argument that buying a new car is waste always annoyed me. Maybe if I crushed my old car, but how does changing owners shorten the useable life of a car?
- photojosh 8y ago
  Ditto for smartphones. So what if I upgrade every year, when the device I had 5 years ago is still being used by someone else and is fine for their needs?
- lmm 8y ago
  > EDIT: As an aside, the argument that buying a new car is waste always annoyed me. Maybe if I crushed my old car, but how does changing owners shorten the useable life of a car? What's the person who buys your car doing with their old car? Presumably either crushing it or selling it on to someone with an even older car. If we assume a constant number of drivers (for simplicity) then every new car bought ultimately corresponds to one car getting disposed of.

megy 8y ago

I think we blame the person who buys it, as we should.