This Is Why I’m Hot
My Mom is doing some Christmas baking with some friends right now. And then I realized just how much extra packaging is present with all of the ingredients they bought. So I collected as much of it as I could and took the above picture.
So now I would like to point out the "This Is Why I'm Hot" 1 paradox.
Companies such as Kraft, Hershey's, Mr.Noodles, etc. are huge contributors to our store shelves today. We support them every time we purchase one of their products. This happens so often (the purchase of their products) that these companies have become hot commodities in today's society.
To be blunt, this is why they're hot: our society made them hot. Our society--our ever-so-"green" (just to be part of the cliché) society--has made them hot. But wait a minute... ...we are our society.
We, who as part of the green movement aim for a greener society, are giving giving food to the enemy. We, who as part of the green movement aim to reduce our carbon footprints, are telling the enemy to attack our flank. We, who as part of the green movement aim to live in a sustainable manner in a sustainable world, are giving the enemy an atomic bomb.
"[O]nly a madman would give a loaded revolver to an idiot." 2
These companies want money. They are people too, and people want money. They care not about being sustainable just so long as we keep giving them money.
We are supporting these companies. We are encouraging them to continue on as they are. We are encouraging an unsustainable way of life. This needs to stop.
We have to act now and show the world that it is not "hot" for companies to continue to be so wasteful with their packaging. There are many ways in which we can do this. We can turn down plastic bags at the grocery store--buy one of those nice reusable bags to use instead. We can buy brand names with less packaging--they do exist. We can write letters (or use other methods) to inform these companies that we do not support their methods of packaging--they need to know that we do care.
Recall that CD you bought last week. Recall pulling it out of the bag. Recall opening the plastic casing. Recall removing the plastic wrapping. Recall removing the plastic stickers. Recall opening the plastic case. Recall ejecting the small CD enclosed inside that immense mass of plastic.
Remember that your CD packaging, your candy wrappers, your garbage exists in your hand today. Next week, it will exist in a landfill (unless you're sustainable and recycle... ...but a lot of people still refuse to take that small, extra step towards a better world). In a few years, it may compose hills that stand next to our cities. Within the next century, we may have another Mount St. Helens on our hands.
Let's go to the root of the problem. Let's end the packaging crisis now.
It's time for us to tell these companies that their packaging is excess and unnecessary. It's time for us to tell them that we care. It's time for us to to tell them that this is why we're hot.
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1 "This Is Why I'm Hot" by Mims, 2006.
2 "The Weapon" by Frederic Brown, 1951.
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November 30th, 2008 - 16:14
Some of this packaging is necessary though to reduce costs of the consumer. The world is in recession. The average North American will opt for the $2 cheaper option than the one with less packaging.
Some of the packaging keeps prices lower because the expiration date can be extended further than it expiring every few days/weeks ect. This is why a bunch of chocolates is going be cheaper than fruit.
CDs have so much packaging because of theft. Instead of targeting the firm, target shoplifters. If shoplifting decreased, packaging would too. It is easier to steal an item that has no shrink wrapping and that hurts the economy if things are stolen by driving up market prices because the companies make less profit. If prices raise, inflation, and the wage rate stays the same we end up in financial crisis. Not really like the one the world is in right now but still, crisis. Less buying means raising the prices of goods steadily until they are above market equilibrium and that hurts the economy.
I recycle, I go to a green university, I don’t turn on my heater even though it is below zero out. I wash my clothes with cold water, I take transit, I reuse water bottles and then recycle them but there isn’t much I can do about packaging. I don’t have people buying me food. I live off of a very limited income and I want my food to last me longer than a week so I will opt for the cheaper items which is hard for me since vegetarian/vegan options are way more expensive than meat.
I reuse grocery bags as well. I use them as garbage bags instead of buying fancy glad ones or whatever.
Also those letters you say for sending, most of them end up in the shredder. Spamming them can lead to legal complications as well.
You are thinking of the earth and that is great but if prices get pushed up, how many people will buy or seek for alternatives? How many companies will go under? How will it effect your lifestyle? A pack of no-name noodles cost about $0.70 but will you still buy them when it looks more like $2.70?
And I have a question for you, you have a lot of CDs and DVD correct? How many of these have you actually kept the cases for? If I recall correctly, you place them in a CD binder. Where did these cases land?
I agree that the earth should be saved but you have to look at more than one side of the fight.
December 1st, 2008 - 23:11
Wait… are those Mr. Noodles? In Christmas baking?! =P
December 2nd, 2008 - 19:01
@Krystal:
Yes, but that packaging can be reduced (note I argued to reduce packaging, not remove it). We need not a huge box to store chocolates. Nor do we need that plastic casing to make sure they look visually appealing when you open the box.
I think we’re doing about as much as we can to prevent shoplifting as is. Minus, of course, the education on the topic… …but nonetheless, the stickers will ultimately serve the same purpose. They need not add the shrink wrapping to compliment it. If somebody is determined enough to steal it to open the sticker, why wouldn’t they spend an extra 5 seconds ripping off any plastic wrap?
(Random question, how is vegetarian more expensive? I know that a major incentive for people to start becoming vegetarians lately is that you can save huge sums of money throughout the year if you go veggie)
Most of them end up in the shredder, yes. But the fact that it is most, not all, indicates the possibility.
Less packaging will reduce production costs. It requires less supplies and less machines/workers to put the supplies in order.
Nope. I keep all my CDs in their cases.
December 2nd, 2008 - 19:01
@Lizzy:
Yep. That would be the snack break (we weren’t allowed to eat all the baking yet XD)