| This is the last CSR Newsletter of the Fall semester. Happy Holidays and I will see you in the new year!
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The article in the url below argues that consumerism (in particular, our "addiction to disposability"), enabled by the development of single-use plastics, has affected our society in many ways — some of which less obviously come to mind:
"In 1957, 92 percent of American children were potty-trained by 18 months of age. Four decades later, that number had dropped to just 4 percent. Why are we potty-training our children so much later than our grandparents did?"
It turns out that we have corporations to thank for that — specifically, companies that developed, and then improved, disposable diapers:
"Made from plastic and cellulose, these products have been refined over several decades to be more absorbent, slimmer and less leaky."
And of course, our preference for convenience (in this case, the understandable desire to avoid washing re-uesable diapers) has inflicted a heavy price:
"Such convenience comes at a heavy environmental price. Between 2011 and 2018, disposable diapers were among the 25 most littered items on the seafloor and among the 40 most littered items on land, one study found. In the United States alone, more than 18 billion diapers are discarded every year, creating an enormous drain on natural resources."
The longer it takes for children to be potty trained, the more disposable diapers they will wear (and will be sold by companies like P&G). There are lots of revealing examples in the article of how our shift to a disposable society was engineered by companies that had every incentive to sell us as many plastics as possible. The result?
"Globally, the equivalent of more than one garbage truck of plastic waste ends up in the ocean every minute."
As well as environmental, the article argues that the social impact (cost?) is as great:
"Over the past century, disposable plastics undeniably have made our lives easier in many ways. They have also quietly and profoundly reshaped the ways we eat, shop, raise children and understand hygiene and progress. … Cooking skills have declined. Sit-down family meals are less common. Fast fashion, enabled by synthetic plastic fibers, is encouraging compulsive consumption and waste."
A possible antidote?
"Large French retailers have eliminated plastic for a wide range of fruit and vegetables without causing a discernible spike in food waste, and the country has forced chains like McDonald's to switch to washable dishes and cups for people dining in. Aarhus, Denmark, has signed dozens of cafes and other venues up for a reusable cup system that has prevented over a million cups from being thrown away since its inception early last year. Europe is embedding reuse and reduction into law and infrastructure."
Take care
David
David Chandler
© Sage Publications, 2023
Throwaway Plastic Has Corrupted Us
By Saabira Chaudhuri
September 7, 2025
The New York Times
Late Edition – Final
SR 8-9
