4 ms·

Empirically, most people weren’t willing to do this stuff (the kind of education you’re talking about was common in early recycling programs) and recycling only

by s17n 3y ago

Empirically, most people weren’t willing to do this stuff (the kind of education you’re talking about was common in early recycling programs) and recycling only became widespread with the advent of single stream. Maybe advocates just need to try harder, though.

culi 3y ago
> Empirically, most people weren’t willing to do this stuff People had to be taught to throw things away. Seriously, just look at vintage 1950s advertisements introducing the concept of "disposables."[0] This was commercial and government interests aligned on what to do about all the production capacity and factories from the war economy now that the war had ended. The conclusion was a total transformation of our society centered around consumption I think it's important to bring some historical context and remember that what needs to happen here isn't so much "learning" as it is "unlearning" [0] https://www.huffpost.com/entry/vintage-ads-plastic_n_5cdb1768e4b01e9bd3540ffa https://www.huffpost.com/entry/vintage-ads-plastic_n_5cdb176...
- bavent 3y ago
  I remember a scene in the show "Mad Men" where they just flick out their blanket to scatter all trash from a picnic and then leave. I thought it had to be satire but I asked an older coworker and he said it was pretty accurate to how things were when he was a kid.
- userbinator 3y ago
  Ironically, plastic bags were invented to be reusable.
- eesmith 3y ago
  The term "disposable" might be a post-war thing (The Google Ngram views for "disposable" https://books.google.com/ngrams/graph?content=disposable&year_start=1800&year_end=2019&corpus=en-2019&smoothing=3 https://books.google.com/ngrams/graph?content=disposable&yea... and "disposables" https://books.google.com/ngrams/graph?content=disposables&year_start=1800&year_end=2019&corpus=en-2019&smoothing=3 https://books.google.com/ngrams/graph?content=disposables&ye... are pretty neat.) However, the concept is older. One-use paper Dixie Cups started around 1910, replacing the shared cup. "How unsanitary!" you might think of the old system. Sure, but the Dixie Cup Company sure did promote that hard. "Just think of the luxury—a new cup filled with pure water all for a cent" - https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1525/ctx.2010.9.1.73 https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1525/ctx.2010.9.1.73

by s17n 3y ago

culi 3y ago

> Empirically, most people weren’t willing to do this stuff People had to be taught to throw things away. Seriously, just look at vintage 1950s advertisements introducing the concept of "disposables."[0] This was commercial and government interests aligned on what to do about all the production capacity and factories from the war economy now that the war had ended. The conclusion was a total transformation of our society centered around consumption I think it's important to bring some historical context and remember that what needs to happen here isn't so much "learning" as it is "unlearning" [0] https://www.huffpost.com/entry/vintage-ads-plastic_n_5cdb1768e4b01e9bd3540ffa https://www.huffpost.com/entry/vintage-ads-plastic_n_5cdb176...

bavent 3y ago
I remember a scene in the show "Mad Men" where they just flick out their blanket to scatter all trash from a picnic and then leave. I thought it had to be satire but I asked an older coworker and he said it was pretty accurate to how things were when he was a kid.
userbinator 3y ago
Ironically, plastic bags were invented to be reusable.
eesmith 3y ago
The term "disposable" might be a post-war thing (The Google Ngram views for "disposable" https://books.google.com/ngrams/graph?content=disposable&year_start=1800&year_end=2019&corpus=en-2019&smoothing=3 https://books.google.com/ngrams/graph?content=disposable&yea... and "disposables" https://books.google.com/ngrams/graph?content=disposables&year_start=1800&year_end=2019&corpus=en-2019&smoothing=3 https://books.google.com/ngrams/graph?content=disposables&ye... are pretty neat.) However, the concept is older. One-use paper Dixie Cups started around 1910, replacing the shared cup. "How unsanitary!" you might think of the old system. Sure, but the Dixie Cup Company sure did promote that hard. "Just think of the luxury—a new cup filled with pure water all for a cent" - https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1525/ctx.2010.9.1.73 https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1525/ctx.2010.9.1.73