Waste

I was in the grocery store yesterday, and walked by the soda aisle.  And it occurred to me that EVERY bottle there would be trash within 2-3 days of being purchased, and that this store likely runs through many hundreds of bottles daily.

Look around the rest of the grocery store.  Everywhere you look you see packaging that is used once, then discarded.

Now, I am obviously a hard core conservative.  The question of sustainability–can we keep doing this forever–is an empirical question.  The likely answer is that yes, we can probably do something like this for at least several more decades, during which time our lives will change in large and unpredictable ways.

But I would submit that there is an aesthetic element to this, which is not reducible purely to economics and science.

It is UGLY, throwing this much shit away.  It is unnecessary.  There are better processes possible.

Here is one immediate suggestion: https://www.thekitchn.com/ditch-the-plastic-10-reusable-produce-bags-174099

More generally, if you were to focus on reducing packaging you will almost inherently, and I know I’ve commented on this before, eat healthier.  You will wind up with whole grains, legumes, veggies, fruits, meat (in paper, which at least biodegrades), and oils.  An “oil bar” would be a useful thing too, so I could bring an oil can.

Conservatives and leftists get in so many pissing contests about so many things.  There is no reason we can’t side with the tree huggers on this one, with one distinction: the Left wants to ban what it doesn’t like, and require what it does.  I think all these things will respond well to education, peer pressure, and time, without the need for yet more government.

Can you imagine a black market for soda in bottles?  It might be possible to create one, with sufficiently bad policy.