To the editor:
We’ve got a world to change.
We do what we can with the waste we have. Renew, reuse, recycle.
Why do we not question why we have such an endless flow? Are we purposely buying this garbage to throw it away? No chance.
We live in a world of waste where the consumer is drawn to pretty packaging as a bee is to pollen.
We buy what caught our eye, hoping there’s a use for it.
We don’t buy the box with hopes of finding its utility.
That part was done the moment you removed it from the shelf.
Those bright colours are attractive, but are they for our benefit? Not at all.
That packaging favours the company manufacturing the product, and the stores displaying it.
It is there for the industry to continue viability. All this packaging has nothing to do with us.
So why are we left to pay for it? How do these costs get pawned off on society when it’s the already-polluting industries making the money to ensure their continued polluting?
How much do retailers pay for this mess? Their junk floods into our community and we are responsible for its end life. It’s like a subsidy that nobody talks about.
What would these stores do if we returned this packaging that they pawned on us? What sort of deluge would they face?
Would they change their behaviour?
I can guarantee it will stay the same if we say nothing.
I propose that in addition to creating a Buy Nothing Day, we return all the packaging thrown at us.
Industry is largely unaffected by the waste they create, and that story must change.
Darrin Fiddler
Kelowna