Disposable culture

I am now in the habit (when I remember, which is most of the time) of taking my own reuseable bag to the grocer. This adds a mild suspense to my Wal-Mart or IGA excursions considering the generally confused reaction of the “associates.”

The end of last week, a Wal-Mart “associate” — quicker to realize the bag’s purpose than others — did remind me that the store recycled bags brought back by customers. Her knowledge of this was encouraging. Last year I asked an “associate” if they recycled the cheap plastic bags and she didn’t know.

I replied to the the girl who knew about the recycling program by saying, “I never remember to bring them back.” This is true, although I later realized a more pressing reason behind by use of a reuasable grocery bag: I dislike the disposable nature of our American culture. I want things to be designed and built well. I believe history in our environment is important. I believe in good stewardship of our environment — that is, not wastefully filling up landfills with non-biodegradable and/or toxic objects.

When my wife and I needed a new washer and dryer three years ago the question I asked the appliance salesman was

“How long will the machines last?”

The answer, “They are made to die after six years.” This, was less than encouraging.

“So, the big bureaucratic corporations build machines to last only a few years so we have to buy another set more often?”

“Yup.”

This makes perfect sense to my own skeptical, bureaucratically-averse mindset. And I have no reason to doubt the honesty of the salesmen who told me this. However, I don’t have any documentation or references to back up such an accusation at this time.

I realized this weekend that my interest in salvage may, in part, be rooted in my dislike for a disposable culture. This morning I gave a handful of beautiful objects — a reflector, two ornate antique hinges, an antique doorknob, an eyeglass case — mostly found and salvaged, to my friend Joel Armstrong for his artwork. He is better at using such things in his works than I; most of the salvaged material in my work is more of what I would call raw material: boards, stone, logs and so on.