Given the finite quantity of fossil fuels, I am amazed at how inefficient we are at some things. As I child, I always thought it would be so much more efficient if we only had 15 different types of cars and trucks. You could work to perfect models and minimize maintenance and maximize efficiency. The different types of spare parts, mechanics, and dealerships would be far less and it would make selecting a car so much easier.
I realize that limiting the type of cars runs against to our capitalistic culture and economy. I also realize that if there were not sufficient competition, the limited car theory, would lead to fewer jobs, crappier cars, and a smaller economy. However, if you could insure competition, there would be such a huge savings in the use non-renewable resources.
We don’t have enough oil to go around and so you’d think we would become collectively outraged at things that waste oil and resources but I think we are a long way from that point. We don’t scoff at the person forever driving around an inefficient vehicle like a big truck without any passengers or payload. No one is apparently appalled at NASCAR’s wasting gas by having extemely inefficient cars run around and around.
One thing that has started bothering me more and more is the amount of waste in packaging. Maybe as Halloween creeps closer and I see more and more candy circulating in small bags, and begin to wonder more and more if there isn’t a better way. There are ten M&M’s in a little bag, that is part of a bigger bag, that was part of a box, that was stacked on a pallet. What if we just sold M&M’s in bulk? You bring your own vessel (bag, glass jar, M&M dispenser) to the store and fill it up and you only pay for the M&Ms and not the added paper/plastic/printing/cardboard/wood necessary in the bite-sized Halloween packing version. You’d have to think it’d be way cheaper and there would be a lot energy saved in the process.
My problems with packaging do not stop with M&Ms – there is cheese (or I should say a cheese product) wrapped in plastic individually, there are chewy granola bars packed in a wrapper that is too big and put in a box that’s way to big all to make us feel like we are getting more for our money when if fact we are getting less, and there are boxes of ¾ full cereal.
One final issue I have with wasting resources is mailing. I was at the cable store last week and there was a guy in there mad because the cable company sent him what amounted to junk mail. He was arguing it was a waste and he doesn’t want to pay for it. The customer service rep insisted he wasn’t paying for it. He countered by asking who is paying for it then? The ensuing heated conversation highlighted an inability of the customer service rep to understand consumers pay all the costs for what a company does even though it might not be itemized on their bill.
I remember this conversation as I went through my mail and pushed most of it into the throw away without opening pile. Sure, my credit card company isn’t charging me the $1 it costs me to send an offer for something, but I am certainly paying for it one way or another. Obviously, the credit card companies must make more than it costs but this can only mean they are charging too much.
Tags: cars, packaging, saving resources
