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Disposable Life by Paul Willis I'm not one for watching advertisements on the television very much, these breaks are normally a cue for me to go and make a cuppa or do something more productive for a couple of minutes. However, I have noticed a trend among products being advertised. In a bid to make life easier and more convenient more manufacturers are pushing the disposable item. Given how many products are disposable these days, it's perhaps no wonder that our rubbish bins are becoming so full. Yet, the trend towards disposable items continues unabated. The problem with most of these disposable items is that they are not recyclable. They add to the burden of residual rubbish and reduce the fraction available to recycle. For local authorities this is a double whammy since we are all in the business of trying to increase the recycling rate to 36% within the next couple of years. There will always be a fraction of rubbish that is not available to recycle and this includes some pretty horrible things such as, cat litter, street litter, vacuum cleaner dust and waste food. If you add disposable cameras, moisturising pads, cleaning pads, gloves, razors and nappies to the list you are adding something like another 5-10% to the waste stream that would not have been there only a few years ago. Do we really need all these disposable items? The problem seems to be that people are seduced by the advertising and buy the products because of their convenience, giving little thought to the extra rubbish that is generated. As with so many consumer issues, it is not easy to pin down who is responsible for creating the problem. The consumers blame the manufacturers for producing items that are so blatantly non-environmentally friendly, while the manufacturers claim that they are merely pandering to the wishes of the consumers. What is really needed is some kind of legislation or Government intervention to curb the trend of more disposable items being produced. It is interesting to note that despite the efforts of the European Union to reduce packaging, there appears to be little appetite to try and stop the burgeoning disposable market. It's not clear why this has not attracted the attention of the European Union, but perhaps it might be a reluctance to get involved in an area where consumer choice may be limited. Until this issue does receive attention from Government, we can at least exercise our own consumer rights and avoid these items wherever possible. I can happily lead my life without disposable cameras and nappies (the washable ones we use for our daughter are just as convenient). Can you? Reproduced with kind permission of the Author Paul Willis. Waste Strategy Manager Worthing Borough Council Written September 2004
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