It was not at all a surprise to me when I witnessed how Americans use resources. They would leave lights on during month-long breaks at the university, wrap merchandise in multiple layers of virgin plastic or plastic-paper composite packaging, and finally mindlessly discard them at a bin. Americans produce the most garbage in the world per capita, three times the world average—a staggering triumph.
Indeed, if you remove the outer paperboard box from cereal products and attach a non-sticker 6″ by 4″ paperboard label to the inner plastic bag—especially its seal—this whole thing would seem as if it came from the third world and magnitudes less appealing. Therefore arguably more utilitarian points can be made for the box, such as being able to place the item stably on a flat surface, being able to stack in a block-esque fashion, and to a certain extent protecting the content from stress. I love these arguments; they are excellent points. It shows some sort of American rationality to a lesser extent, and much of their pride of living decent lives. Moreover, they have shown me that the true problem lies not in production. Disposal would be the more appropriate subject of interest, because then you meet garbage, such an inferior being you think it is.
I manage two additional garbage bins at my apartment: the single-stream recycling bin, and the compostable bin, both of which go to the City of Minneapolis. (Compostable recycling is on an opt-in basis in Minneapolis.) I can do this naturally, without any support or even cooperation. I can pick out cans and bottles discarded by my roommates from the unrecycled trash bin and move them to recycling. I can take the compostable to a dedicated collection location managed by the City.
But disposal is not the core of the problem either. It has to do with your own attitude to matter. I believe any respectable human being should have been (equivalently) educated to eat a toast, or pizza, entirely with its crust. Surely, some of us appreciate those dry, smoky and bitter doughs as beauty, but you won’t find enough of these people to offload your crusts to. And you entirely shouldn’t attempt to wish someone, some animal, some bacteria or fungi out there to take care of your arbitrary leftovers. Similarly, you also shouldn’t waste resources in design and production, because the matter is not there to fulfill your arbitrary desires. This is basic responsibility. Are you 12 yet?
So, not arbitrary. The threshold of necessity varies across cultures, and I can already tell you that the United States is on the very high side. Even though such a fact is alarming, any arguments depending on it are invalid. Let me just present—
One rule of thumb. If the object (sans modern ethics) you might be exploiting understood everything you did, and would therefore come to kill you, don’t.
Oh, I am not religious. For fuck’s sake.