4 ms·

I think if that were really true, so many companies wouldn't go out of their way to create an image of something not being made of plastic when it is. It's resi

by dqv 2y ago

I think if that were really true, so many companies wouldn't go out of their way to create an image of something not being made of plastic when it is. It's resin. It's polymer. It's PU. It's felt. It's acrylic. It's wool (aka 30% wool, 70% polyester like don't piss me off). Or my favorite: they just don't tell you what it's made of at all. A recent example of this is when I was looking for key racks. The hooks on the key racks were painted a metallic silver... obviously to look like metal. They weren't metal though, they were plastic. There was no way to find this information easily without first buying the product and investigating it myself. Why not just say they're plastic hooks? If plastic were truly a selling point, it would be prominent in all the advertising: "$5 value plastics!" or "Plastic/Wool jacket!" It's not. Because they know that, in reality, people don't actually like plastic. It's just that in an environment where you have a selection of items varying in price where the highest-price item is just as likely to predominantly contain plastic, consumers will choose the least expensive option. It is exploitation of information asymmetry, not a true preference for cost-effective plastics. The other thing is that there are a lot of products that are very expensive that are still made with plastic. When looking for products online, I always try sorting by most expensive to least expensive to get the higher quality products. Still there is plastic, but it's Gucci plastic! See, this plastic junk is better because it has a household brand name on it. The capitalism apologia for this behavior is insulting too: No, you need that plastic, it's better than using the non-plastic materials! You wouldn't like it without the plastic! We're protecting you! (Again, if it really is better, then make its betterness prominent. Be proud of the fact that you chose plastic for its cost-effectiveness or its physical properties!) The solution I'd like to try is requiring that this sort of information be provided directly under the price at the consumer's request. In brick and mortar stores, they can have pull outs under the price label or just have a bigger label (yes this is feasible - retail stores already redo their labels regularly for price changes and new/seasonal merchandise). Online, there would have to be a prominent flippy switch to toggle on that additional information. In all, I find the claim that people prefer plastic to be dubious and think that, if given the information, a lot of consumers would buy less plastic. I think people prefer their time, not wanting to go down a deep research rabbit hole (where one must dodge the companies who infiltrate information sharing spaces like the Buy It For Life subreddit with false sentiment about their products), and are, at best, indifferent to plastic.

dr_dshiv 2y ago
They don’t market cow’s milk as “gland secretions” either. And while many products are optimized for cost, they don’t market them as “cheaply sourced ingredients.” Plastics have a bad rap. They don’t cause big societal problems, relative to the societal attention (Eg plastic straws). People want simple, binary stories about a fight against evil — but the world is complex and actually pretty good.
- Over2Chars 2y ago
  The fraud that occurs with recycling is hardly a simpleton's morality tale for the masses. AFAICT it's not even discussed. People are "against recycling" becuase it's stupid or inconvenient, or others are "pro recycling" for "the earth". But recycling is a fraud, largely, as I mentioned - it's not supposed to supplant the reduction and re-use of materials, yet is has. This is because of plastics industry lobbying and marketing. No one talks about Reduction or Reuse. Now it's "recyclable". you throw it in a green bin and no one asks about it after that. Plastic bags were made a little thicker and euphemistically labelled "reusable". Study disposable single use trash marketed as reusable.
photonthug 2y ago
> in an environment where you have a selection of items varying in price where the highest-price item is just as likely to predominantly contain plastic This thread is so much like the “people don’t want quality” post from a day or two ago, with many of the same observations about information asymmetry, people making weirdly contrived excuses for corporate interests, etc. That thread has one guy ranting about ladles and kitchenware too, like just stamp it once out of steel for the love of god so we can stop rebuying the same junk every year! Plastic is great where we absolutely need it or ask for it, and the rest of the time it’s just part of the deceptive cost and corner-cutting corporate culture that tends to wreck human health and happiness as well as the rest of the world. I’m really pissed about this subject lately because I’m breaking a major or minor household appliance like every other day just by trying to gently use it for the intended purpose. I didn’t choose these objects since I’m visiting family, but how much can be blamed on a consumer really before we just call the sale of junk itself shitty and fraudulent? Some people will say “caveat emptor”, but that really only works when choice and information is something that consumers have access to.

by dqv 2y ago

dr_dshiv 2y ago

They don’t market cow’s milk as “gland secretions” either. And while many products are optimized for cost, they don’t market them as “cheaply sourced ingredients.” Plastics have a bad rap. They don’t cause big societal problems, relative to the societal attention (Eg plastic straws). People want simple, binary stories about a fight against evil — but the world is complex and actually pretty good.

Over2Chars 2y ago
The fraud that occurs with recycling is hardly a simpleton's morality tale for the masses. AFAICT it's not even discussed. People are "against recycling" becuase it's stupid or inconvenient, or others are "pro recycling" for "the earth". But recycling is a fraud, largely, as I mentioned - it's not supposed to supplant the reduction and re-use of materials, yet is has. This is because of plastics industry lobbying and marketing. No one talks about Reduction or Reuse. Now it's "recyclable". you throw it in a green bin and no one asks about it after that. Plastic bags were made a little thicker and euphemistically labelled "reusable". Study disposable single use trash marketed as reusable.

photonthug 2y ago

> in an environment where you have a selection of items varying in price where the highest-price item is just as likely to predominantly contain plastic This thread is so much like the “people don’t want quality” post from a day or two ago, with many of the same observations about information asymmetry, people making weirdly contrived excuses for corporate interests, etc. That thread has one guy ranting about ladles and kitchenware too, like just stamp it once out of steel for the love of god so we can stop rebuying the same junk every year! Plastic is great where we absolutely need it or ask for it, and the rest of the time it’s just part of the deceptive cost and corner-cutting corporate culture that tends to wreck human health and happiness as well as the rest of the world. I’m really pissed about this subject lately because I’m breaking a major or minor household appliance like every other day just by trying to gently use it for the intended purpose. I didn’t choose these objects since I’m visiting family, but how much can be blamed on a consumer really before we just call the sale of junk itself shitty and fraudulent? Some people will say “caveat emptor”, but that really only works when choice and information is something that consumers have access to.