Disposable Lifestyle

We need to change our mindset from a post-industrial one to a pre-industrial one if the human race is going to survive. The western mindset is: use it once, throw it away, buy another one that can be easily bought since everything is mass-produced in a factory. The industrial revolution gave us every convenience that we could ever want, saving thousands of hours of housewives' time. Canned vegetables, frozen food, gallons of soda are all stockpiled in huge warehouses so that no one could ever go hungry even after a nuclear holocaust (that stuff has got enough preservatives to outlast the apocalypse).

But we've abused the benefits of the industrial life. We see food as an unlimited resource. It's not. Our resources are precious. Wasteful consumption affects everyone.

Get rid of your disposable mindset. Do your part to reduce landfill litter.

-Never purchase drinks that come in a plastic cup from any kind of fast food establishment. This includes soft drinks, Starbucks, and slurpees. You'll use it for at most an hour, and then when you're done, your trash will sit in a pile with dozens of others of cups in an overflowing trash can on a street corner. Do you really need to drink something while you're walking down the street? Bring a thermos of coffee if you really need it, and always carry a Nalgene. I do.

- Turn something that has outlived its use into something useful: make a skirt from old ties, or turn ratty undershirts into rags that you can clean your car with. Use the last bit of butter on the wrapper of sticks of butter to grease baking pans. Think in terms of molecules, not dozens: always finish the last bit of juice in the carton, and squeeze out every last drop of toothpaste.

Don't contribute to paper garbage:
-Don't use anything that's single-use, or "Wipe and Toss." This includes alcohol wipes, any kind of disposable cleaning item, or "100-calorie" packages of food. These things are 99% garbage to begin with and the creation of greedy marketing departments. You'll use the product once, throw it away, and then have to buy another package of 30 for the future. How sneaky is that? The product is pretty much garbage at the time you buy it off the shelf. It's much better to buy more durable products (such as a good scrubbing sponge), and use natural cleaning agents like vinegar.

-Women: sanitary napkins are like diapers. They contain not only bleached white cotton, but plastic, gels, rayon and other chemicals that don't biodegrade quickly. Would you bury used pads in your garden outside your house? Then don't contribute to hygienic product waste. Use alternative menstrual products like Gladrags, Lunapads, or Lunacups. Women used cloth pads and natural sponges for hundreds, if not thousands, of years before disposable sanitary products were mass-produced in the 20th century.

-Use Tupperware instead of Ziploc bags to store your lunch. Did I mention to make a packed lunch every day instead of ordering out?

-Always use china instead of paper plates, plastic cups and cutlery. Washing dishes is always more friendly than throwing the remnants of your meal into a pile of trash that will rot in a landfill.

- Save, save, save! Something that is not useful today might have a use in the future. Perfectly good items like buttons and fabric are always useful. It's OK to hoard. Think like your grandparents who lived through the Depression.

- If it's broke, fix it. Don't buy a new one. This goes for shoes (get them repaired by a cobbler). Don't buy crappy $5 sneakers that you wear for a year and then throw away. Make an investment on a good pair of shoes that will last for years. My parents both have shoes that they've worn for at least 20 years. Go for classic, timeless styles and cuts made with durable, lasting fabrics. Don't pay any attention to fashionistas who tell you to get rid of clothes once they go out of style within a season or two, as inevitably they do. In fact, don't buy into American trendism at all. It just contributes to more waste. I'd rather buy a good, classic piece that's slightly more expensive than a cheap, flimsy garment that lasts for a few washes and then disintegrates *and* goes out of style. Mend the shirt instead of buying a new one.

Most important of all is mindful consumption. The next time you're about to throw an item into the trash, think about where it's going to go. Is it going to sit in a landfill until kingdom come (like unrecyclable plastic packaging and junk)? Will it get blown away by the wind or slowly disintegrate (hair and nails), becoming dust? It always makes me happy when I recycle my cans and plastics to know that they'll be melted down and made into other useful things.