In the summer of 1975 I got a job in a factory that made cardboard Halloween skeletons. My job was to rivet the legs and arms onto the skeletal torso. As the parts came down a conveyor belt, I would grab them furtively and rivet. Then an arm and then a leg and then an […]
Entries Tagged as 'cheaply made goods'
The seamy underbelly of Halloween decor
October 12th, 2013 · No Comments · Consumer Issues, Decoration Industry, Disposability, Excess of Possessions, Manufacturing
Tags:cheaply made goods·decorations·environmental toxins·Halloween·Halloween skeletons·holiday decorations·non-recyclables·party products·polystyrene·saving stuff·seasonal decorations·Styrofoam·too much stuff·toxic waste
Bad News for Rigid Plastics: China sings the Elvis song.
August 1st, 2013 · No Comments · Disposability, Manufacturing, Recycling, Trash Disposal
She wrote upon it: Return to sender. Address unknown. No such number. No such zone. China’s mad. Yes, China — the one who buys most of the world’s discarded plastics so that we can buy fright-loads of manufactured plastic doodads back from them — has had it. Reason? They’ve been getting boat-loads of plastic with […]
Tags:cheaply made goods·China·China buys plastics·garbage problem·landfill·plastics·recycling·rigid plastics·waste disposal
Avoiding pesky labor laws by sending work abroad
June 24th, 2013 · No Comments · Consumer Issues, Excess of Possessions, Manufacturing, Philosophy, Polystyrene
What was I saying last time? Oh yes — we send our Styrofoam to China and they make it into cheaper plastic products. So what’s wrong with that? If China can recycle polystyrene into a more inert kind of plastic that isn’t going to be breaking up into little particles and flying all over the place, […]
Where to get rid of Styrofoam blocks in Portland
June 13th, 2013 · 4 Comments · Disposability, Packaging, Polystyrene, Recycling, Trash Disposal
I have to admit I’ve been feeling somewhat holy about going to the trouble of schlepping our huge Styrofoam blocks out to one of the only two places in Portland that will take them. I feel less holy after what I’ve just found out. …. which I’ll tell you about in a minute. But first […]
Tags:cheaply made goods·garbage problem·landfill·non-recyclables·packaging·polystyrene·recycling·Styrofoam·throwing stuff out·waste disposal·wasteful packaging
Collectivitis combined with the ecological mindset
March 18th, 2013 · 1 Comment · Collecting, Consumer Issues, Disposability, Philosophy, The Packrat Mind, Trash Disposal
You might think it’s dumb that I write about things like pen caps and sock hangers — but that would mean you were missing my larger purpose. My assignment (call it a compulsion if you must) is to scrutinize each and every little item and ask the big questions — go all the way back […]
Tags:cheaply made goods·collecting·collectivitis·disposability·garbage problem·landfill·packrat mentality·throwing stuff out·too much stuff·waste·waste disposal
Back to the Caves?
December 5th, 2012 · No Comments · Consumer Issues, The Packrat Mind, Trash Disposal
The global garbage problem disturbs me horribly. The whole world is filling up with stuff just like our homes are. I don’t think going back to being cave people is the answer. My hope is that if we start from the microcosm of our own dwellings, word of our efforts, of our refusals to participate, […]
Tags:cave people·cheaply made goods·excessive packaging·garbage problem·packaging·planned obsolescence·start at home·wasteful packaging