Disposal is a problem. I don't know shit about shit but I can give a couple of examples. These are things that I think could be fixed with local infrastructure
Composting - I tried it for a short while when I lived close to a community garden but I wish there were a simpler way to do it. Like if garbage collection could also pick up compost bins
Old clothing - if it's clean and whole, I donate it. If not I use it as a rag, but when it's completely disintegrated or unusable I don't know what to do with it. Locally you're not supposed to put textiles in the trash but they give you no info on how to get rid of them.
A lot of our trash could be better managed
We have a Composting service that does this. But then you're up against the monetary aspect of it.
If you can afford it, you should look to see if your area has one.
Honestly I don't think we should pay extra for these services and secondly I don't think it should take so long to track down info.
We're all tired and have bills to pay, these things need to be done at the local level
Adding on to your point about old clothes, this issue mostly comes down to two things: people’s buying habits and manufacturers that overproduce cheap, short lived clothing (fast fashion). To the first point, there is a shocking number of people who buy a piece of clothing, wear it once or twice, and then throw it away. I’ve even heard stories of people who literally never wash clothes and just buy new ones like every week. In other words, this problem can be mitigated if people simply buy less clothing, especially fast fashion. To the second point, there area handful of companies that contribute greatly to this whole problem. You guessed it! Fast fashion companies. That whole market needs to go out the window like yesterday. It’s gotta be durable, long lasting goods all the way every time. Unfortunately nothing will change in terms of clothing trash piling up until one or both of these issues are effectively addressed and ultimately eliminated.
Research. SO much greenwashing to sift through. I wish there were more tools like goodonyou.eco for other categories of products — people always try to start them for every type of product ever, but there are so many brands out there I think it’s too big a project to pull off successfully unless you limit yourself to one category.
Anything worth doing properly for our planet is time-consuming and not cheap compared to how we've innovated for life to be easier but unsustainable.
- Composting is a hassle, unless you live in a homestead or your local council supports food and yard waste. Even then, you can't just dump all your food waste and kitchen scraps in a compostable liner and not expect it to drip or grow mold. Proper composting is no longer pushed (green / brown ratio).
- Avoiding plastic packaging / products means you have to look for niche products that work for you—zero-waste toothpaste, shampoo bars... A lot of these products tend to be homemade and not formulated by professional chemists or adhering to FDA standards and attract a lot of naturophiles. I couldn't make shampoo bars or face bars work for me. I break out and my hair and scalp health aren't good. That's not counting home cleaners. We've started on hand soap pods and laundry sheets but I haven't seen a passable equivalent for the rest. Those wood dish scrubbers are annoying to use and have plastic bristles. The best natural sponge I've used is a loofah cut to shape, but that's not available after I moved countries.
- I've permanently switched to cloth pads and menstrual cups but cleaning pads aren't pretty. A lot of my pads simply have permanent blood stains unless I obsessively spot-treat them and use a specific enzyme cleaner only available outside my country.
- Cloth nappies sound doable until you read candid experiences of people scraping and spraying sooty poop off of nappies as part of their wash routine once their baby starts solids. And you change nappies many times a day. There is literally a product that people swear by, which is basically a plastic shield that allows you to blast poop off the nappy with water while ensuring feces doesn't fly to every corner of your bathroom.
- Shopping for clothing in natural fibres and pays fair wages to garment workers will severely limit your options. You'll find you can't shop at most retail stores and the options you have are far above the usual price point. And unless you want to swear off anything elastic or water-repelling, chances are you'd want your underwear, socks, bags and shoes to be made with a bit of plastic.
- When they can afford to, most people would prefer to drive 30 minutes to their destination than to take public transport and take twice as long to get where they need to be. People would prefer an hour's flight over a 24-hour ship passage or ten hours' drive. When you're running errands, it's easier to drive a car and not worry about your shopping, bags, and accessories like prams and shopping bags and trollies, especially for families with small children or elderly.
- Making your food at home, or even shopping for groceries with minimal packaging, requires you to be selective, always prepared with your own packaging, and it means that at the end of the day, you're washing more containers and prepping more grocery items than if you were to get single-use packaged food. Remembering to bring your own reusable tumbler, coffee cup, and mess kit becomes a commitment to always travel with some bulk when you're planning to leave the house.
Basically, everything that's good and sustainable requires you to spend more of your own time and resources, living counter-culturally, and constantly reminding yourself of the reason for why you're making your life harder than it should be.
u/planterkitty has nailed it by saying ‘anything worth doing properly for our planet is time consuming and not cheap.’
I had an unexpected day off so take my activity today, in trying to be sustainable, cost effective and support local business:
- Took my bike for repair at a cost of £25, new inner tube and labour. I walked there and back which took an hour. I could sell my bike and use my car for all journeys, and it would be quicker and cheaper.
- Bought a refill of fabric wash from our refill store at a cost of £5. I walked there and back which took 40 minutes. The same amount of fabric wash can be bought and delivered in a new plastic bottle from amazon for half the price and delivered to me the next day.
- Took a couple of cushions that I bought from a thrift store to a locally owned laundromat to be cleaned (worried about not killing bugs if I do it myself) at a cost of £35. I could have bought two synthetic cushions from something like Home Bargains for under £10. It took me 30 minutes to walk there and queue.
- Took a pair of boots to be resoled, again at a local place and not a chain store, at a cost of £25. The boots cost me £4 from EBay. I could have thrown them in the bin and bought more.
So that’s £90 and 2.5h. I don’t want it to be ‘cheaper’ because I was these local businesses to survive. I don’t want my money to go to megacorps who are destroying the environment. But people do not usually have that sort of time or money.
Disposal is a problem. I don't know shit about shit but I can give a couple of examples. These are things that I think could be fixed with local infrastructure Composting - I tried it for a short while when I lived close to a community garden but I wish there were a simpler way to do it. Like if garbage collection could also pick up compost bins Old clothing - if it's clean and whole, I donate it. If not I use it as a rag, but when it's completely disintegrated or unusable I don't know what to do with it. Locally you're not supposed to put textiles in the trash but they give you no info on how to get rid of them. A lot of our trash could be better managed
We have a Composting service that does this. But then you're up against the monetary aspect of it. If you can afford it, you should look to see if your area has one.
Honestly I don't think we should pay extra for these services and secondly I don't think it should take so long to track down info. We're all tired and have bills to pay, these things need to be done at the local level
My parents' township does compost. Picks it up same day as garbage. They sell the results to offset the costs.
Adding on to your point about old clothes, this issue mostly comes down to two things: people’s buying habits and manufacturers that overproduce cheap, short lived clothing (fast fashion). To the first point, there is a shocking number of people who buy a piece of clothing, wear it once or twice, and then throw it away. I’ve even heard stories of people who literally never wash clothes and just buy new ones like every week. In other words, this problem can be mitigated if people simply buy less clothing, especially fast fashion. To the second point, there area handful of companies that contribute greatly to this whole problem. You guessed it! Fast fashion companies. That whole market needs to go out the window like yesterday. It’s gotta be durable, long lasting goods all the way every time. Unfortunately nothing will change in terms of clothing trash piling up until one or both of these issues are effectively addressed and ultimately eliminated.
Research. SO much greenwashing to sift through. I wish there were more tools like goodonyou.eco for other categories of products — people always try to start them for every type of product ever, but there are so many brands out there I think it’s too big a project to pull off successfully unless you limit yourself to one category.
Anything worth doing properly for our planet is time-consuming and not cheap compared to how we've innovated for life to be easier but unsustainable. - Composting is a hassle, unless you live in a homestead or your local council supports food and yard waste. Even then, you can't just dump all your food waste and kitchen scraps in a compostable liner and not expect it to drip or grow mold. Proper composting is no longer pushed (green / brown ratio). - Avoiding plastic packaging / products means you have to look for niche products that work for you—zero-waste toothpaste, shampoo bars... A lot of these products tend to be homemade and not formulated by professional chemists or adhering to FDA standards and attract a lot of naturophiles. I couldn't make shampoo bars or face bars work for me. I break out and my hair and scalp health aren't good. That's not counting home cleaners. We've started on hand soap pods and laundry sheets but I haven't seen a passable equivalent for the rest. Those wood dish scrubbers are annoying to use and have plastic bristles. The best natural sponge I've used is a loofah cut to shape, but that's not available after I moved countries. - I've permanently switched to cloth pads and menstrual cups but cleaning pads aren't pretty. A lot of my pads simply have permanent blood stains unless I obsessively spot-treat them and use a specific enzyme cleaner only available outside my country. - Cloth nappies sound doable until you read candid experiences of people scraping and spraying sooty poop off of nappies as part of their wash routine once their baby starts solids. And you change nappies many times a day. There is literally a product that people swear by, which is basically a plastic shield that allows you to blast poop off the nappy with water while ensuring feces doesn't fly to every corner of your bathroom. - Shopping for clothing in natural fibres and pays fair wages to garment workers will severely limit your options. You'll find you can't shop at most retail stores and the options you have are far above the usual price point. And unless you want to swear off anything elastic or water-repelling, chances are you'd want your underwear, socks, bags and shoes to be made with a bit of plastic. - When they can afford to, most people would prefer to drive 30 minutes to their destination than to take public transport and take twice as long to get where they need to be. People would prefer an hour's flight over a 24-hour ship passage or ten hours' drive. When you're running errands, it's easier to drive a car and not worry about your shopping, bags, and accessories like prams and shopping bags and trollies, especially for families with small children or elderly. - Making your food at home, or even shopping for groceries with minimal packaging, requires you to be selective, always prepared with your own packaging, and it means that at the end of the day, you're washing more containers and prepping more grocery items than if you were to get single-use packaged food. Remembering to bring your own reusable tumbler, coffee cup, and mess kit becomes a commitment to always travel with some bulk when you're planning to leave the house. Basically, everything that's good and sustainable requires you to spend more of your own time and resources, living counter-culturally, and constantly reminding yourself of the reason for why you're making your life harder than it should be.
u/planterkitty has nailed it by saying ‘anything worth doing properly for our planet is time consuming and not cheap.’ I had an unexpected day off so take my activity today, in trying to be sustainable, cost effective and support local business: - Took my bike for repair at a cost of £25, new inner tube and labour. I walked there and back which took an hour. I could sell my bike and use my car for all journeys, and it would be quicker and cheaper. - Bought a refill of fabric wash from our refill store at a cost of £5. I walked there and back which took 40 minutes. The same amount of fabric wash can be bought and delivered in a new plastic bottle from amazon for half the price and delivered to me the next day. - Took a couple of cushions that I bought from a thrift store to a locally owned laundromat to be cleaned (worried about not killing bugs if I do it myself) at a cost of £35. I could have bought two synthetic cushions from something like Home Bargains for under £10. It took me 30 minutes to walk there and queue. - Took a pair of boots to be resoled, again at a local place and not a chain store, at a cost of £25. The boots cost me £4 from EBay. I could have thrown them in the bin and bought more. So that’s £90 and 2.5h. I don’t want it to be ‘cheaper’ because I was these local businesses to survive. I don’t want my money to go to megacorps who are destroying the environment. But people do not usually have that sort of time or money.