This summer while traveling abroad I collected complimentary “gifts” that were offered to me. Everything was disposable: razors, combs, shampoos, toothpastes, toothbrushes, shower caps, shower gel, towelettes, napkins, wooden and plastic stir sticks, lids for cups, ear phones, etc.
All of these items are destined for our landfills. Our post-industrial world is based on consuming where the consumer is king. I think this is unsustainable and I feel we have a responsibility to consider how we service our consumers. Already, designers are rethinking the manufacturing process in order to create products that can infinitely breakdown and circulate back into new merchandise for the market. Consider the earphones that are disassembled into 5 different garbage bags. Some of the materials are re-usable, but the design was never intended for recycling; disassembling the product is time consuming and tedious, not to mention the harmful by-products that result from recycling. I know there is another way. In this time of dwindling resources and environmental concern, I am optimistic that we will evolve and adopt new strategies for processing the materials we use which will ultimately transform the way we live our lives.