- cross-posted to:
- news@lemmy.world
- cross-posted to:
- news@lemmy.world
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Yup and these 60 companies are using their insane profits to lobby the government to ensure nothing ever changes.
Yay capitalism.
If you don’t want the world to drown in its own filth, it is your personal responsibility to boycott everything these 60 firms produce. Since at least one of them is an electronics company, that means I’m allowed to say you’re responsible for this mess because you’re using a computer.
In our little town, we have a shop that is plastic free. We refill everything we can there: detergent, dishwashing soap, shampoo, deodorant, shampoo, shaving cream, you name it. On top of that Ive minimized as best I can (although a work in progress) my use of single use plastics.
Plenty of people around me just don’t give a shit. It’s cheaper and easier to just go to target and get it or order it off of Amazon.
Too many people using the excuse of “I can’t be perfect, so it’s not my responsibility” as a reason to do nothing.
Don’t be those people.
Too many people using the excuse of “I can’t be perfect, so it’s not my responsibility” as a reason to do nothing.
I mean, pure convenience really is at the heart of it. The worst thing to happen to bottled water companies was pipes and if Nestle or Ozarka could ripe out everyone’s plumbing they’d do it in a heartbeat.
Its very cool to have a shop that’s plastic free in your little town, but I’ll be damned if I can find an equivalent in America’s Third Biggest City of Houston, TX. At least, not one that’s 30 minutes drive.
Don’t be those people.
At some level, you have to concede its the structure and not the people. I don’t think anyone really wants to be hauling 40 lbs of trash to the curb every week. But when we’re inundated with it, avoiding waste becomes a job in and of itself.
It shouldn’t have to be a struggle to avoid generating trash.
The worst thing to happen to bottled water companies was pipes and if Nestle or Ozarka could ripe out everyone’s plumbing they’d do it in a heartbeat.
I’m not defending these companies, just pointing out that using the companies as an excuse to change nothing about your own habits makes no sense.
Its very cool to have a shop that’s plastic free in your little town, but I’ll be damned if I can find an equivalent in America’s Third Biggest City of Houston, TX. At least, not one that’s 30 minutes drive.
Right in the center of Houston. Although having lived in Houston for a number of years, I understand that you could still easily live a half hour from here. But if you work in downtown, it’s always the option to grab it on your way home.
But, also, keep in mind that you are right now trying to make excuses rather than look for solutions. I’m not saying you have to shop at one of these places, I offered my experience to demonstrate how, even when it’s available, people would still rather buy the convenient disposable crap.
At some level, you have to concede its the structure and not the people.
It’s both. This is my point. Too many people don’t want to put in any effort to make things better, they just want to point at corporations and say “not my problem.” It’s how they deal with the cognitive dissonance of claiming to care about this issue, but at the same time not doing anything about it. “Well, what can I do?” A lot. You can do a lot. If you frequent that store in Houston, and encourage more people to, they can open up other locations make it even more convenient for more people. We all have to shift our behaviors to make it work.
It shouldn’t have to be a struggle to avoid generating trash.
Also agreed. However, again, not an excuse to change none of your own behaviors. You can both try to do better and push for better policy.
Right in the center of Houston.
Which is 30 minutes drive from anyone outside 610.
But if you work in downtown, it’s always the option to grab it on your way home.
That’s true, assuming traffic in that area isn’t miserable. There’s also a WholeFoods in the Galleria Area that has had similiar services, but I don’t even try to get near it during rush hour, because its pure gridlock.
Too many people don’t want to put in any effort to make things better, they just want to point at corporations and say “not my problem.”
I don’t think that’s true. What I have found to be the case is that independent action is expensive and time-consuming. You need some kind of business model to make it work, and that quickly turns “community effort” into “full-time job”. And if you’ve already got a full-time job, you’re not going to be able to afford to sidestep all the businesses on every corner offering you the easy way out.
At some level, it absolutely is a corporate problem. Because even if you do succeed at a local level, you’re working in the scale of gallons while they’re working in the scale of mega-barrels. Systematic problems require systematic solutions. It can’t just be half a dozen people on one street in Houston changing where they shop.
You can both try to do better and push for better policy.
Okay, but then when do you have time to do anything else?
No one is denying it is a corporate problem too, they have the lions share of it; the only one denying responsibility here is you.
And you are (implicitly) arguing that you can’t put any effort in, because it’s either do nothing or it’s a full time job. This is nonsense. I go to this store once, maybe twice a month. But the latter only because it’s convenient. It’s not even remotely a full time job.
But also no one is saying you have to do everything at once. I even noted i’m still very much a work in progress.
The important thing is to try, rather than just throw your hands up and claim you have no responsibility.
the only one denying responsibility here is you.
Oh good. Then there’s no problem. My output is infinitesimal on a global scale.
I was worried for a minute, but I guess since everyone else is taking this problem seriously, it should be fixed shortly.
The important thing is to try
An individual endlessly forced to attempt an exhausting futile endeavor is a punishment in Greek Mythology.
But on Lemmy, its supposed to be a panacea.
The two tobacco companies Altria and Philip Morris International combined made up 2% of the branded plastic litter found, both Danone and Nestlé each produced 3% of it, PepsiCo was responsible for 5% of the discarded packaging, and 11% of branded plastic waste could be traced to the Coca-Cola company.
Imagine how much plastic waste could be eliminated if Coke and Pepsi just went back to glass bottles?
Imagine how much plastic waste could be eliminated if we just boycotted these companies.
I haven’t had a drop of either in 20 years and the mess has only grown larger.
Really? That’s strange. I could have sworn the fault was on individuals and not the companies producing these mountains of shit.
Don’t worry about these big guys. The straws are gonna save the planet.
You could always not buy their completely non essential products, but suggesting that rarely gets a good reception from the “obsessively whining about straws” crows.
That’s what’s always a bit maddening about these conversations. It’s not like companies are just shredding plastic into the atmosphere because they’re cartoon villains who love evil.
They’re making cheap plastic shit because we love cheap plastic shit. They’re making this stuff in response to explicit consumer prioritization of low costs above all other factors. If consumers broadly demanded soda in glass bottles and expressed a willingness to pay the extra cost that this entails, every soda company would use glass.
I’m not saying that you individually should be blamed for all environmental pollution, but we have to realize that companies are responding to the exact same incentives that we do. They’re obviously operating at a much larger scale, but they use cheap plastic shit for the exact same reason we do. If you’re looking for policy solutions, a great option would be to introduce an externality tax on plastic so that this environmental cost is actually factored into the production and end price and can fund remediate the damage, similar to carbon taxes. Of course though, the moment you say the word ‘tax’ people’s brains completely shut off, so this is probably a non-starter.
