Throw-a-way Society

[Jon Bon 43]

I was reading a thread today about Occupy Wallstreet, I thought this may be a bit off topic, but did in fact relate. The thread talks about taxing profits from corporations in an effort to gather more income for the country and redistribute wealth in the USA. I definitely agree with this, however, I do not agree with that curing North Americas financial crisis.

To me that sounds like a band aid solution, to an ever growing problem. I am a minimalist, I spend as little money as possible, and own as few things as possible. With that said I still have all our basic needs as we may consider them, housing, food, heat/water/eletricity. I also have the basic entertainment needs as well, TV/Computer, internet/cable, video games, and I enjoy a night out from time to time. With that said, I am poor, specifically working poor. I qualify for all tax breaks, as well as social assistance(monthly government money, which I do not apply for by choice). I do not own a car by choice but do have my license, a vehicle however would most likely be the end of my extra cash. In any event, I by far do not consider myself poor, I have more than enough money to live and be happy and have all the things I want and need. I don't need a boat, or a plane, or a cottage, I am saving for a home however as I currently rent (since a proper home is an investment). I am more than happy with a simple standard life working as a recycling and waste management specialist(12$/hr).

 

The point of all this is, at my work I often remove appliances from peoples homes, very frequently people say things like "Oh, the dryer works perfectly, just the washer broke and we were getting a new one, so why not get a new dryer too...." only to finish it with "...so they match.". REALLY?

First off, we remove the appliances for free, so she didn't get any money for it, nor did she pay to have it removed. Secondly the appliances we pick up, are stripped of their various differing pieces and each category is recycled accordingly. Take a guess what the metal (majority of the contents) is used for, you bet ya, washing machines and dryers! But wait it gets better, it's not like it's re-purposed, nope, it's crushed using a massive high powered diesel beast of a machine, then melted, shaped formed, cased and reused for something else, that someone else will throw away when it still works good.

People are constantly throwing away perfectly good 'products' and things they no longer want, but can not find a place/person/use for them. I'll list a few more, BBQs(people throw away their old working one, for a new shiny metal built in one), Exercise equipment (I could have built 40 gyms in working equipment by now), Bicycles(no kid wants a used bike for their first bike, then they grow out of them), Excess building materials (yup, no joke, job sites often leave materials behind that no one needs or knows how to use, and we have to remove and recycle them), there are many many more examples.

 

We do our very best to try and find homes for the stuff we get that is still in working condition if not brand new (as we often get brand new stuff people leave behind), but it's hard because of the volume in which we receive it, as well as the cost to store it. Let's broaden our view a moment, picture how many times metal is picked up, shipped, recycled, crafted, shipped, pickeup/kept, only to be given away (while working) to be 'recycled'. All recycling is, is breaking down the object into usable pieces, often times the act of recycling costs MORE resources to reform the material rather then reuse it as is. This is the society we live in(NA), people buy things they don't really need/want on impulse, or because social stigma tells them to. If you like boating, buy a boat, but don't buy one because all the neighbors have one. That boat then sits in your driveway until the weather rots it out, and it's no longer good, and all the resources used to make it need to be recycles, at the cost of more resources!

 

How does this relate to the recent financial crisis? Directly. To think how many times a working washing machine is turned into a working washing machine, only to be turned into a working washing machine, sickens me. Imagine the resources wasted in transporting, and creating that thing so many times. Yes the object in question is used, but it's thrown away before broken, at the cost of more resources. But this is how we think, this is how we act, people throw garbage out their window and laugh "I am making jobs", they buy unnecessary appliances to replace working ones, they buy McDonalds 6 times a week, then complain they are fat. As a society (at least in North America) we clearly do not see the consequences of our actions before taking them. This and this alone is the reason our economy is so weak, we do not value what we have, nor will we until it is gone. We waste at every opportunity, and for every 1 person trying to do the right thing(like my self, and others), by reducing and reusing more than recycling, there are 10 people throwing fast food wrappers out their diesel truck window as it idles while they wait for their significant other to get back with more fast food, so they can return home with their matching washer and dryer.

[Serge 3]

Forget what I psoted, was sleepy and didn't read it all.ew years more.

Edited November 10, 2011 by Serge