Chicken or egg: disposable culture vs impulse culture

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black_son_of_gray
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Chicken or egg: disposable culture vs impulse culture

Post by black_son_of_gray »

I was talking to my SO, and she said she had been thinking about whether disposable culture leads to impulse culture or vice versa. The situation that got her to thinking about this was that she got off of work and happens to walk by a grocery store on the way home. She didn't have any bags with her, but knew that disposable bags are provided if you don't bring your own. (She did pick up a few items)

So, what say you? Does the fact that so many disposable things are easily or readily supplied to customers/consumers bring about a more impulsive culture? Or would you say that people are impulsive generally, and stores are just trying to be prepared for that by having disposables available?

Perhaps I'm wrong, but it seems like there were less disposable consumer goods/accouterments (bags, wrapping/packaging, utensils/plates/cups) in the past due to the relatively recent development of plastics technologies; And yet, my hunch is that people were also less impulsive in the past, but maybe for other reasons (e.g. less tv, internet, smartphones, etc). Trying not to view the past through rose-colored glasses...

Any thoughts or insights greatly appreciated.

George the original one
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Re: Chicken or egg: disposable culture vs impulse culture

Post by George the original one »

My opinion: people are impulsive generally. After all, children have to be trained to not be impulsive and most of us don't take readily to that training!

7Wannabe5
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Re: Chicken or egg: disposable culture vs impulse culture

Post by 7Wannabe5 »

Of course, you also have to consider the downside of compulsive behavior vs. impulsive behavior. The individual who hordes 1000 disposable plastic bags in her van is as out of touch with self-aware, self-care as the impulsive bag waster. Other common sort of examples being the person who has to run every morning, even if feverish and ankle is injured and it is 102 in the shade, vs. the person who impulsively plops on the sofa with a giant bag of Doritos rather than taking the walk she scheduled for herself, or the monk who flagellates himself in his cell to banish impure thoughts vs. the person who makes out on park benches with anybody who has very large biceps and can say "Fibonacci." When I cross over the line of compulsive in the realm of frugality, I call it "hurting myself with cheapness." When I cross over the line of impulsive in the realm of baked goods, I might use the phrase "sugar-slut" to denigrate myself.

IlliniDave
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Re: Chicken or egg: disposable culture vs impulse culture

Post by IlliniDave »

I would guess that the two aren't necessarily related as closely as the chicken and the egg, and that it is more the cultural habit of high/excessive consumption and the segment of the economy that depends on it for revenue that led to things shopping carts (aside: I could have moved from one apartment to another in college with a modern Walmart shopping cart--those things are huge) and stores providing a means for shoppers to transport a maximum amount of stuff out the door with a minimum ding to their bottom line. Of course there's a relationship between material (and literal) gluttony and impulsiveness, so they feed off each other, but I don't see a causal relationship there (between impulsive behavior and disposable goods).

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GandK
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Re: Chicken or egg: disposable culture vs impulse culture

Post by GandK »

IlliniDave wrote:... I don't see a causal relationship there (between impulsive behavior and disposable goods).
Me either. I do see a relationship between convenience/laziness and disposable goods. You don't see a lot of double-packaged goods (e.g. a box of breakfast cereal which has a plastic bag inside of it, of all the wasteful lunacy) in developing countries. Or in the community/farmer's markets that are much more common in Europe. When people won't or can't cook their own food, all kinds of packaging appears. All of which is disposable.

Or take Lysol wipes. Are we really too lazy now to spray our cleaning solution of choice onto a reusable cleaning cloth? And using the same example, I also see a relationship between disposable goods and our germophobic culture, the latter of which I'm convinced is slowly making us sicker.

IlliniDave
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Re: Chicken or egg: disposable culture vs impulse culture

Post by IlliniDave »

GandK wrote:
IlliniDave wrote:... I don't see a causal relationship there (between impulsive behavior and disposable goods).
Me either. I do see a relationship between convenience/laziness and disposable goods. You don't see a lot of double-packaged goods (e.g. a box of breakfast cereal which has a plastic bag inside of it, of all the wasteful lunacy) in developing countries. Or in the community/farmer's markets that are much more common in Europe. When people won't or can't cook their own food, all kinds of packaging appears. All of which is disposable.

Or take Lysol wipes. Are we really too lazy now to spray our cleaning solution of choice onto a reusable cleaning cloth? And using the same example, I also see a relationship between disposable goods and our germophobic culture, the latter of which I'm convinced is slowly making us sicker.
Don't get me started ... :lol:

I sort of sleep walked into a lifestyle full of conveniences that I've spent 6-7 years trying to fight my way out of.

I had a German couple as neighbors many years back (1990s). It angered them that the grocery store provided shopping carts, bags, bag boys, and that the bag boy would push your cart out to your car for you. They thought it was all a huge waste and it upset them significantly that the cost of all that was added to what they were paying for food. They had brought baskets and cloth shopping bags (like the ones you see commonly now, but only a few hippies at the organic naturopathy and bead shops used them here back then) with them from home expecting to use them for all their shopping here.

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Re: Chicken or egg: disposable culture vs impulse culture

Post by jacob »


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