Zero waste challenge in Rosemont
CBC has an item about some Rosemont folks undertaking a zero waste challenge. I’m all for the aspects involving re-using clothing and toys and furniture, but I have several reservations about this as a goal. One is the assumption that people’s time is valueless, and another is the sad fact that this is still an elite choice.
A zero-waste bulk grocery, Loco, is handy to my place. Last time I emptied a bottle of laundry detergent (La Parisienne unscented, listed by IGA at $5.29 for 1.52L, but which I can usually find at Jean-Coutu for under $5) I brought the bottle to Loco and bought some of their cheapest laundry stuff (they have 3 options). I didn’t even fill the bottle, but it was evident that the product was going to cost me nearly twice as much as the La Parisienne. Can’t imagine how the priciest would compare.
I’m about to run out of dish detergent and am not sure whether to experiment with the Loco product, since it’s also very likely to cost twice as much as the usual stuff I get (Biovert, listed by IGA at $2.49 a bottle).
I’m not knocking Loco, which is doing a good thing, but it’s irrational that we should pay twice as much for a product without a container as with one. Zero waste will never be a generally viable concept till people can save money by doing it.
My main concern, however, is that damage to the ecosphere is carried out on a grand scale by corporations. Getting individuals to pursue zero waste is not completely pointless, but it’s a drop in a very big bucket when keeping pressure on politically is what’s called for.
John B 11:25 on 2019-10-26 Permalink
The products at places like Loco are often local/organic/ethical/whatever in addition to being zero-waste, which can really drive up the cost, (look at oils for sticker shock – Canola oil is about 10X more expensive at Loco as buying a bottle from the bottom shelf at Metro). There’s a hole in the market for “normal” products without packaging. Bulk Barn helps fill the hole if there’s one available.
Loco & Bulk Barn are great for people who really want to change their lives, but for most of the world incentives need to change on the supply side. When it’s cheaper to buy a kilo of pasta in plastic than it is without, people are going to choose the no-cleanup plastic-wrapped pasta almost every time.
Michael Black 11:33 on 2019-10-26 Permalink
It seems like a lot of these things are stunts, or fodder for a book. It’s easy to live with a limitation for a limited time, harder if it’s forever. We hear about people living without electricity or garbage or buying nothing or eating within 100 miles, and it makes for a good book or tv show. But how much do they keep after the period? Do they revert to old habits? More likely it’s somewhere in between.
It may set an example, but I suspect most people can’t meet such standards.
I suspect also that people involved may have different philosophy. If they already think “clutter” is a bad thing, it’s easier for them to limit what they buy, or tell people their children don’t need more toys.
We can look at the past. Fifty years ago food coops were big, in part because whole foods were hard to get at the time. So it was more like buying in bulk, and dividing it up to members. Membership required participation. But with time, people didn’t want to participate, so the rise of natural food stores.
Those started out as a for-profit version of the food coops, but with time the bulk buying went away. Health codes came along, so no more scooping yourself. And people wanted less effort, so the stores would prepackage, though usually just a plastic bag rather than multiple layers of packaging.
If people change “because I should” they may revert. How many people go back to eating meat over time? I’ve seen people who think they need to live a certain way, and hate it.
People need to change for their own reasons, so when they start to do it, they keep with it. That’s why I’ve never driven a car, and haven’t eaten meat in forty years. I do both for my own reasons, and thus never felt like I was missing something. I knew when I stopped eating meat I’d never go back.
Michael
Tim S. 22:17 on 2019-10-26 Permalink
I think the time issue Kate brings up is really under-discussed. Just as an example, when my wife was unemployed for a few months, she found all kinds of great clothes, for practically nothing, in church basements. Now that she’s working 40 hours a week, it’s back to online shopping, with all the attendant packaging and delivery trucks and so on. There can’t be a serious reduction in waste and consumption, never mind degrowth, without a reduction in the work week, or the return of individual salaries that can support a family.
CE 11:37 on 2019-10-27 Permalink
@Kate, do they not have Biovert in bulk? They were one of the first companies to offer it so I’m surprised that they wouldn’t.
Chris 15:04 on 2019-10-27 Permalink
It’s all further illustration of how our entire economic system needs major reform.
Kate 22:09 on 2019-10-27 Permalink
CE, Loco didn’t have Biovert last week. I didn’t see the brand name on any of their stuff.
I might go by the Maison Ecolonet on Bélanger and see what they have, sometime.
EmilyG 22:16 on 2019-10-27 Permalink
I try to cut down on waste, but often gluten-free food comes in rather extensive packaging.