I was no more than five or six years old. With my childhood friend, Denny, we’d roam the neighborhood looking everywhere we could imagine to find our treasure: empty soda bottles. We’d find as many as we could. We’d hope for at least three bottles each. But however many we found, we’d take them to the little store on the corner to get the refund: two cents per bottle. If we had six bottles, we’d have enough money to each buy a candy bar and a piece of penny candy. What a treat!
Those were different times. While only fifty years ago, things have changed quite dramatically. In that bye-gone era, we didn’t dispose of things so easily. Soda and milk came in glass bottles. They were returned to bottling plants to be sterilized and reused. All other sorts of other things were reused, like burlap and cloth sacks in which we bought flour and other goods. Plastics weren’t very common. Gardens were found in many back yards along with places for compost.
Today, many of us do what we can to recycle and to limit our carbon footprint. In my home, we have a place to collect jars and cans, used paper, plastic bags, foam trays, batteries, light bulbs – everything we can identify to recycle. We bring our own bags when going to the grocery store, market, and other stores. When we don’t have our own bags, we ask clerks not to bag items and carry the items ourselves. We are careful about thermostat settings, the number of lights on in particular rooms, and consider ways to reduce energy use. Despite all our efforts, we really don’t do very much that actually makes a difference in terms of “green living.” That’s because the problem is beyond us.
The significant difference between my youth and today is the difference in cultural values. In my youth, things were meant to last and be reused. Today, things are designed for limited use and are disposable. Because of how we use natural resources, it is cheaper to make disposable items rather than make durable ones that could be reused. Today, what prevents us from living in ways that are more green has to do with corporate profits. It’s simply cheaper to package items in disposable containers than in reusable ones.
Because the values for profit trump any other value, all kinds of damage has ravaged the planet. In some cases, short cuts that save money are taken that result in environmental disasters That was the case with the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010. In addition, accepted practices that are cost-saving in the short run for companies can lead to greater amounts of waste. Examples of this include the amount of plastic used in packaging items, the plethora of single use items, as well as the problem of built-in- obsolescence with many appliances.
When we bought our current home, the stove the former owners left us was an appliance we were happy to have. It’s designed with two ovens: a smaller top over and a larger bottom oven that is similar in size to ovens found on most stoves. We thought that the small top oven would be great for our regular use and that it would use less energy. However, the oven stopped working after a few months. After visits from a couple of repair services, we learned that the small oven couldn’t be repaired because the needed parts weren’t available. That’s because appliance makers are only required to provide parts in the US for a limited number of years after an item is manufactured. In other words, it was designed to be replaced. We continue to use the stove because we don’t want this large appliance that mostly works to just end up in a landfill. What a waste! And it’s wasteful by design!
Yes, corporations need to be profitable. At the same time, our cultural values need to change. If we want to maintain life on Earth for future generations, we need to seriously consider the values related to the role profit plays within our global society. Cost-benefit analysis needs to more seriously consider the impact on all stakeholders. Corporate social responsibility needs to include ethical use of resources and environmental impact. That will happen as people like you and me raise these issues and bring them to awareness in our communities.
In the meantime, in my home we continue to recycle and do what we can to live in greener ways. That’s going to include taking a few minutes to sew-up the seams on some of those reusable shopping bags. It’s surprising how quickly those seams start to pull apart. It’s ironic. I also have two cloth shopping bags that are older than me. Those things never wear out and are truly durable. Even today’s re-usable shopping bags aren’t made to last.
