How A Disposable Culture is ruining our world

Simona Allen - 12 May 16

I want to start this blog by proposing a small challenge to my readers.

I want you, (yes you!) to wake up in the morning and as you get ready and go on about your day, to notice how many things we use which are ‘disposable’ (aka things that will eventually end up in a bin….)

From the toothpaste plastic tube, to the bread loaf wrap, to the takeaway coffee cup….Jot down everything which is potentially rubbish.

Got it? How long is your list?

You will be amazed.

As an individual, I am astonished at the amount of rubbish I single-handledly produce, which is mesmerising and embarrassing at the same time. How did we end up with a world like this? When did everything become disposable, ready to be used once, maybe a couple of times, then thrown away?

I remember my grandma telling me stories of grocery shopping in Italy during the 40s and 50s, when things like olive oil and wine were sold without a container and therefore you had to carry your own bottle to the shop and refill it. The same thing happened with laundry detergents and – you’ll never guess it- shampoo and basic toiletries and beauty products.

I became fascinated with the stories of households which didn’t even have a refuse bin, everything was recycled or re-used: glass empties were brought back to the shops (you’d even get a few coins back), vegetables and food scraps were taken away to be composted etc. Clothes were ‘up cycled’ numerous times, albeit no one being aware of what ‘up cycled’ meant back then!

As an 80’s baby myself, I didn’t grow up in such a world and my imagination only goes as far as to think of what life back then must have been like.

Indeed, I have memories of plastic cutlery and plates at children’s parties, lots of helium balloons (which I then learnt ended up polluting the sea) and of course, piles of disposable nappies!

Step forward to 2016- and cheap fashion, designed to be worn only a few times, wet wipes and plastic containers are EVERYWHERE.

Throwing stuff away is now so ingrained in our culture that deciding to take the step to recycle or reuse our stuff is seen as ‘alternative’.

When I started using cloth nappies, I was very often addressed as ‘crazy’, ‘hippy’ or simply ‘having nothing else better to do’ (and these comments were the one said to my face….)

Why would anyone apparently take a step back in time and go through all the faff of washing, drying and sorting nappies when nowadays we have the convenience of just using-and-throwing?

Well, for starters – I have always been a bit of a rebel. So what if everyone else wants to use disposables. I fancy something different so there,

Secondly – and more importantly- I come from a place in the world where rubbish is big news. Toxic waste was thrown and dug deep into the earth close to where I am originally from which made so many people seriously ill. I have seen the greed of the ‘rubbish industry’ when so many former agricultural areas (producing the most gorgeous fruit and veg) are now reeking of stale rubbish. The organised crime makes a quick buck. In the meantime, local kids are dying of cancer. The matter is complex, so I am not going to delve into it in this blog, however you get the gist.

Something needs to be done, our poor planet is not a big, huge rubbish tip.

Our children deserve to enjoy whats left of this planet’s natural resources for them to enjoy.

So if my ‘sacrifice’ is an extra wash and 5 minutes to fold such reusable nappies and wipes, then I think it is well worth it.

I came across a mum asking for advice on a forum the other day – she wanted to start using cloth nappies mainly for environmental reasons. I was just about to type a quick comment suggesting she goes visit her nearest nappy library when another mum posted a barrage of comments ranging from ‘Cloth nappies are unhygienic’ to ‘They smell, why would you want to use them?’ and the evergreen ‘We live in 2016, surely we don’t need cloth nappies’

You could see how my heart sank when I read those comments.

This is what our disposable culture has done to us, it is so well ingrained now that it makes us think everything which isn’t immediately thrown away is indeed ‘unhygienic’. And why would nappies (or clothes) stink if washed correctly?

It all just goes against our better judgement.

This is why is so important to spread the message, talk openly against the disposable culture, leading by example. Let’s challenge criticism, let’s discuss options, let’s try to do things differently. You may be surprised.

We owe it to ourselves, we owe it to our children, we owe it to our planet.

Simona Allen

Adopted Londoner, mum to a baby boy, City girl now turned hypnobirthing teacher with Hip Mama Hypnobirthing. I am a big believer that giving birth should be your greatest achievement and not your biggest fear. Partial to a cup of Earl Grey tea and a scone.

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