ECOSiZE Me

Gone Tomorrow: Planned Obsolescence Creates More Garbage

Planned obsolescence is a business, marketing and manufacturing strategy that builds in or plans for a product to become obsolete, outdated, unfashionable, antiquated or otherwise undesirable in a certain period of time. It puts manufacturers, consumers and environmentalists at odds. Companies use it to ensure future purchases and repeat customers. Consumers often feel slighted that they wasted money and the products are not durable enough. Environmentalists are concerned with the ecological burden planned obsolescence has on natural resource consumption and the ever increasing generation of garbage resulting from our disposable lifestyle.

We have never in our history created so much garbage. The United States is merely 5% of the world's population but creates nearly 30% of all garbage on the planet. The amount of garbage disposed of in one year in the U.S. alone is enough to fill Detroit's Ford Field almost 10,000 times. That's 10,000 times in one year. One year.

Yesterday, we mentioned the documentary. Today we picked up the book. Gone Tomorrow: The Hidden Life of Garbage is proving to be a read that is both fascinating and disturbing.

Recycling alone will not save us from the garbage we create as we are creating it at a rate far greater than the rate at which we recycle. What is needed is a paradigm shift on a global scale...a change that banishes the idea of disposable and demands products that are truly durable and sustainable.

But, in what lifetime can this be achieved? Let's ask ourselves...are we willing to make the shift, take the stand and be the change we want to see?

Gone Tomorrow: The Hidden Life of Garbage

Based on the book of the same name, the documentary Gone Tomorrow: The Hidden Life of Garbage, addresses recycling, waste generation and disposal in the United States. It provides an insightful historical perspective and addresses how built-in obsolescence has contributed to our increasing garbage dilemma. The 20 minutes out of your day is well worth the time spent.

  

Un-Bottled Bottled-Water

If you have placed a personal, professional or other type of ban on bottled water and you otherwise support the notion of going "back 2 tap" (see this link for a wonderful effort by our friends in NJ), tell us, is this something you would purchase?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The discord that I have is more with the act of packaging and selling WATER and with the prolific rate at which this country has become "dependent" on an over-packaged, over-priced and otherwise wasteful item and less with the idea of cartons as a form of packaging.

Aseptic packaging, or cartons, actually have a lower carbon footprint than some other types of packaging materials. Cartons are made mostly of paper (a renewable resource) and have a higher yield than other types of containers. (Yield being the amount of material that is available for recycling after processing.) The Carton Council has actually committed to developing end markets so that more recycling programs can accept cartons and be guaranteed an outlet for the material. As a result of this commitment, carton recycling is increasing throughout Michigan as well as the rest of the country.

But back to the idea of buying bottled (or cartoned) water...at what point in time did our society give up on tap water and invest so much trust, money and resources into a much less regulated industry?

I will admit that, for a very short period of time, I was enamored with the idea of bottled water. My husband kept his senses about the issue and highly discouraged any bottled water purchase I attempted. Thankfully, the notion was short lived and I quickly realized the error of my ways. Every bottled water purchase is now a skeleton in my (environmental) closet.

In case you were wondering...bottled water is considered a "food" item and is subsequently regulated by the FDA. Tap water, which is regulated by the EPA, has much more stringent standards, in terms of reporting requirements and frequency of monitoring.

Every choice has an impact...so tell us...do you tap or bottle?

When Packaging Goes Wrong Instead of Going Green

 You start off by doing something positive for the environment...like purchasing a tote bag that is made from 9 recycled pop bottles. You have a warm, fuzzy feeling knowing that you have made an effort to support local recycling programs by choosing a product that "closes the loop" because it's made from recycled materials. Then something goes drastically wrong in the packaging and shipping process.

The fabric tote bag is wrapped inside a plastic bag, stuffed into a cardboard shipping box and filled with styrofoam packing peanuts. I now have at least twice the amout of material to dispose of then what I have originally purchased. Instead of going green, I have gone so wrong.

 

 

Littered with Indifference

At a local Sears store, my daughter and I shopped for school shoes. While we were successful and had a good experience inside, things changed dramatically in the parking lot.

It was closing time and while we approached our car, there was a young employee a distance away gathering shopping carts. It caught my attention because I heard the sound of plastic bottles hitting the ground. When I looked over, the employee was removing pieces of trash that were left behind in the carts. Removing them from the carts and throwing them onto the ground in the parking lot, of the company he worked for.

It was infuriating! But since he was still some distance away, I felt a bit awkward walking across the parking lot to express my disapproval. At the same time, I was conflicted because I wanted to say something and stand up for the environment that I value and that I teach my children to value.

I resorted to getting in the car, keeping my mouth shut and using it as an example of what not to do for my daughter. When we circled around the aisle, the employee, with the carts he had gathered, was now only about 12 feet away. Still infuriated and conflicted, I stopped the car and glanced over at him, pondering my last chance to speak up.

Then it happened...he did it AGAIN! He grabbed another cart and threw whatever piece of trash was left behind onto the ground. This time I did not think twice...I instinctively opened the car window and said to him that he could have just as easily taken the trash to the garbage bins in the store and properly disposed of it instead of throwing it on the ground and littering. Not surprisingly, he looked at me and snottily said "yeah" as if he could not be bothered.

I let the disrespectful, indifferent employee know that I planned on contacting the store manager. Not so much as a threat but really moreso to follow up on inappropriate behavior of the people they employ. Although I am not expecting great outcomes, I am anxious to hear the response of the store manager.

When did our society become so indifferent, so careless, so callous to each other and to our environment? Just like I mentioned in the post Gum on the Bottom of My Shoe, littering is a disgraceful, disrespectful act that reflects in the same manner on the people that do it and results in a reputation that is not so easily reversed.

Ecosize Me wants to know...what do you do when you see someone littering? And, what would you have done in this situation?

Gum on the Bottom of My Shoe

Stopping at a rest area on our recent trip out east, we exit the car to take a much needed break. My path only included a grass berm and a cement sidewalk in order to reach the building about 40 yards away. Upon entering the building, I quickly noticed the stickiness on the bottom of my shoe.  I examined the sole only to find a big blue wad of displaced chewing gum. Seriously? Is it so hard to heed the call of Woodsy Owl to "give a hoot, don't pollute" or the Keep America Beautiful slogan "put litter in its place"? The funny thing is that there were ten, yes 10, garbage receptacles in the vicinity making it completely convenient to properly dispose of any trash one may have had.

One of my biggest eco-pet-peeves is LITTER. I'm referring to the deliberate act of intentionally, consciously disposing of your trash on someone's else property...worse yet, littering on public lands...those areas that belong collectively to all of us.

To all the litter bugs out there, I pose this question: would you deliberately throw used gum, a cigarette butt, a pop can, a candy wrapper or a water bottle on your own property? My guess is that your answer is an emphatic "No". Why is it that some people feel it is okay to intentionally drop their trash on the ground? And who is expected to clean up after them?

Let's chew on this: gum on the bottom of a shoe is aways a sticky situation but in time, it can be removed. Littering, on the other hand, is a disgraceful, disrespectful act that reflects in the same manner on the bugs that do it and results in a reputation that is not so easily unstuck.

Driving While Under the Influence--of Trash

This article from Aol Autos, Your Next Car Is Full of Trash, describes how car manufacturers are reducing their carbon footprint and closing the loop, using both pre and post consumer recycled materials in car parts. Materials that would otherwise end up in landfills are being made into shrouds, fascias, brackets, acoustic backing and seat fabric. When you get behind the steering wheel of your next vehicle, you may just be driving while under the influence...of TRASH.

The full article from Aol Autos/Translogic can be found here: http://bit.ly/car-full-of-trash.

Bag the Box: Terracycle & Malt-o-Meal Provide Opportunity for Zero Waste

Cereal bags, without the box, create 75% less packaging to dispose of (compared to cereal packaging that includes both boxes and bags).

Terracycle, an upstart up-cycling company that turns packaging material into affordable and high quality items, has teamed up with Malt-O-Meal, the largest family owned cereal company in the U.S. By recycling Malt-O-Meal brand cereal bags through Terracycle's Recycling Brigades, consumers have the opportunity to create zero (cereal packaging) waste.

The Recycling Brigades provide charitable organizations, including schools, an opportunity to help reduce our impact on the environment while earning some extra cash for the charity in exchange for the effort.

If recycling brigades are lacking in your community, be the change you want to see...sign up your organization or elementary school for one or more of Terracycle's Brigades and begin providing new opportunities for recycling items not otherwise available.

Where is away when we throw it: waste to energy incineration

Where is "away" when you throw it? How many of us are really aware of the final destination of the garbage we set out at the curb? Because of the MRC Conference, I had the opportunity today to take a tour of GDRRA's incinerator. The Greater Detroit Resource Recovery Authority's facility is more accurately a waste-to-energy incinerator, meaning that garbage is burned in order to produce energy. This energy is then sold to DTE and is used to power homes within the city.

About 50% of the 3,000 tons of garbage dumped daily at GDRRA's Detroit facility is generated within the city itself. The rest comes from private waste haulers, suburbs and Canada.

Each of us should have the opportunity to tour an incinerator and a landfill. The lasting impression it would leave on you just may be the catalyst we need for significant changes in our choices.