Why have we built a world where plastics are used for a few minutes (think plastic-lined coffee cups, grocery bags, granola bar wrappers etc.) before being discarded into ineffective recycling and waste streams where this packaging is rarely ever turned back into something useful?
I value a healthy environment — one that is not riddled with micro-plastics. I value a world where consumers do not fall prey to the false claims of recycling plastered on plastic packaging. Unfortunately, these values are not compatible with our current addiction to efficiency and profits.
I envision a world where our collective concern for human health and environmental health trump the idea of efficiency that businesses sell us. To achieve this future, governments need to force companies to take their products back when consumers throw them out. Governments also need to fine businesses who put false recycling claims on their packaging/products.
I agree that plastics should be tracked to the manufacturer! We have the ability to create infrastructure to support a program like this, so I believe this could actually be done in the near future
Hi Sarah, I agree that efficiency of plastic is the biggest issue. It's hard to replace it using other materials.
Hi Sarah, I agree with you, plastic is just too efficient that producers and consumers are unwilling to give it up. It is both cheap to manufacture and easy to dispose of afterwards, which does not help the situation at all! It also seems like we are moving away from plastic recycling attempts to just finding other materials that can be used, which is probably the best step, moving fowards.
Love how you've framed this an human/environmental health against efficiency! Definitely agree companies should be responsible for the entire life of their products and take back their products once the consumer is finished.
I'm curious how fining companies for incorrect recycling claims might be monitored though - there's a LOT of companies out there. As well, who's to say that even if a product 's recycling label or claim is true, that the consumer will know what that means and how to recycle of it properly?
Hi, Sarah. Governments definitely need to fine businesses who put false recycling claims on their packaging and products, and the governments should give heavy penalties on these businesses. Moreover, stricter laws and regulations might be applied to force businesses to put more money into recycling industries to ensure the sustainable development of the science and technology of recycling.
I couldn't agree more! If we're going to use something for such a short period of time, why does it need to have any plastic in it at all to "make it last"?! If things were intentionally designed to either a) be reused for an extended amount of time or b) are fully recyclable or biodegradable or even in some select cases, edible, then there'd be so much less waste and even less reason to need plastic to later make it into waste.
I would like to try to answer your question, I think in the way of human development, plastic bags are undeniably one of the good products, but good does not mean environmentally friendly, but the emergence of plastic bags undoubtedly symbolizes the progress of technology, industrial progress, the earliest group of people using plastic bags will not realize that plastic bags can cause so much harm to the world now. So my answer is that we have built such a world is inevitable, it is a necessary process.
Great post! very true that the strive for greatest efficiency has resulted in unnecessary plastic waste. I think this can be traced back to our culture of constantly over scheduling/overworking, so that any time "wasted" is seen as detrimental to progress.
It is so infuriating to propose fake recycling labels that deceive consumers' trust in this way. I think the company needs to have a stronger environmental awareness. We should not only try to make less recyclable products and also reduce supply to solve fundamental problems.
Hi Sarah, I totally agree with your ideas. If plastic continues to develop and people continue to produce single-use plastic products, I worry a lot about the condition of our bodies that will be affected by the excessive amount of microplastic molecules in the future.
Hi Sarah,
Great post! I have the same value and hope for the future. I hope that we can continue to work toward systematic change so that we can live in a world with far less plastic!
Hi Sarah, I absolutely agree with you. I hope the government or some organizations could also have more education on the crazy amount of plastics that are being used everyday for the customers.
Hi Sarah,
Right? I wonder when did companies make the shift towards ONLY using plastics. Like what ever happened to the old methods of packaging, yes it could be more costly, but do we have to cut EVERY corner? What happened to values and being ethical. Clearly we need to live like how we used to. It's not like plastics are advantageous to our lives anyways.
Hi Sarah,
Totally agree, we encounter so much single-use plastic in our lives and don't even realize it. We definitely need the government to step up and hold companies accountable for their false recycling claims as well as raise awareness of the deceptions that many businesses advertise to their consumers!