Giving Single Use a Second Life: How Eco-Consumerism May Lead to More Waste

BY MADDIE BROOKS

From the fight against single use plastic straws to fitting a year’s worth of trash into a mason jar, these past few years have made it clear: being green is trendy. And as with all trends that have the potential to turn a profit, if they can, they will. Being eco-friendly is no exception to this phenomenon, but this emerging market can be the source of the very thing it’s claiming to work against. 

By definition, eco-consumerism is the concept of purchasing items because of their reduced harm or increased benefit to the environment. For example, purchasing metal or glass straws to replace plastic, or clothes made from recycled materials instead of brand new, because of the marketed “eco friendliness” is eco consumerism. Though this itself is not detrimental, things like greenwashing, the use of clever marketing to make a product seem more eco conscious than it actually may be, can be. 

A direct example of eco-consumerism causing this indirect negative effect is the rise and fall of the zero waste movement.  Projects like the  zero waste movement have been criticized as being unsustainable and unattainable for the majority of the population. The basic dogma encourages reducing your carbon footprint to such a degree where the “waste” you produce is almost negligible. At first glance this seems like a great social movement to be more waste conscious, but as this movement turned more into a trendy lifestyle as opposed to the original idea of waste reduction, it ended up being less and less about the trash and more about the ‘gram. 

A quick google search of “zero waste” still pulls up ads for $60 silicone “plastic bag” replacements, and $20 toothpaste tabs, all under the guise of reducing plastic waste. 

It's easy to fall into the trap of eco-consumerism. Of course you want to reduce your plastic use! Of course you want to save the turtles! Of course you want to support those businesses that take trash and turn it into bracelets! But by taking a look behind the curtain, it’s evident that sometimes, those promises to save the planet are really just veiled marketing ploys. 

For example, those ever-so trendy metal straws? Though you may be sparing a sea turtle an accidental nose piercing, the resources needed to mine, refine, and eventually produce those metal straws causes a bigger carbon footprint compared to a single use plastic straw. In fact, in order to offset that balance, you would need to use a metal straw 150 times instead of a single use straw. In addition, companies that push this eco-conscious mindset sometimes have more sinister inner workings. 4Oceans, the bracelet making, beach cleaning, sea saving, trendsetting company claiming every bracelet purchase took 1 pound of trash out of the sea posed as a non-profit, while in actuality it runs as a for profit business. Though this isn't necessarily a huge issue for their mission, this means their financial records and business dealings don't have to be published. Sure your $20 went into the system for good, but there's no way of knowing where it actually goes. Maybe to ads for the company, or towards the salary of the executive board, or the fractional amount actually paid towards those conducting the beach cleanups, who knows! In short, some organizations prey on your desire to do good, and in the end create more products that will eventually become the waste of tomorrow.

Though it sometimes feels helpless, there are some things you can do to be more environmentally friendly without contributing to detrimental consumerism while saving yourself a few extra bucks. Instead of buying those fancy (and new) glass containers, try reusing the plastic ones you most likely already have in your fridge, or glass jars you may have in your recycling bin. Learning how to repair what you already have, instead of buying new clothes every time something is damaged or worn out can reduce the need for new items (and more packaging, more shipping, more production, etc.). Buying secondhand clothes or furniture before turning to new products also takes out that need for new products in the market. Look for surplus stores around your local college or school system, or online sources like Facebook Marketplace to give some new life to well loved items. Or, if something is better off as a new purchase taking a look into the practices of “eco-conscious” companies (where their waste goes, if they back any charities, if they get raw materials from ethical sources) is worth your while. 

By being more vigilant about what we’re consuming as a culture, we can take a second and pause, and think about how our choices, in what to buy and where from, can lead to positive change downstream.