Wednesday reading

[cloudsinvenice]

It's been a while, but the meme is back! Also, I see this is my first public entry in ages. I swear, potential friends, it's not a complete desert - there is more going on beneath f-lock...

Comments

[semyaza]

I'm fairly brand-proof - and 100% logo-proof - and don't succumb to advertising but I don't see how it's possible to live brand-free or why one would want to. Everything has a brand even if it's not an obvious or popular one and some brands are better than others - better as products, better from an ethical perspective. I've just had my roof replaced. I chose - or my roofer chose - the best quality shingle available. It's a well-known brand. I use certain sunscreens and laundry soaps because they don't make my skin go bananas. Even if I buy something or shop somewhere because I have an emotional attachment - well, what does it matter if I had to buy the thing anyway? It's always struck me that everything comes down to consumption - don't worry about what you buy, don't fret about recycling, just don't buy more than you absolutely need and if it's over-packaged don't buy it at all. Also - and this is something that's struck me many times when it comes to arguments for organic produce and so forth - many people don't have the luxury to not choose brands. One of our grocery store chains has a range of generic products called 'No Name Brand'. Well, it's still a brand but it's a good buy so what can one do?

[cloudsinvenice]

Yes, and as a lot of people pointed out to him, he'd just created a new brand for himself: Neil-Who-Doesn't-Do-Brands. I think I meant to pick up on the affluence angle more before I got distracted, too - it felt like a book that could only have been written before the global recession began.

I mean, this was a guy working freelance who had the time and inclination to make his own soap, toothpaste etc. (I feel compelled to note that you can buy Lidl's own-brand toothpaste for 45p for a generous tube), AND he'd snookered himself professionally into the bargain, since his newfound stance meant he wasn't in a position to do his usual thing of working with clubs, sportswear brands etc. These days that would not be such an easy decision to make, and definitely not a sensible one for most people...

I agree with you about buying less - until we seriously address overproduction at both producer and consumer level, we're still going to be bickering over who recycles, worrying about being duped by greenwashing companies, etc. etc. That's one thing the book got right - so much recreational shopping is a big driver of our problems.

[semyaza]

We've boxed ourselves in because of overconsumption, overpackaging, and an obsession with branding. Being Neil-who-doesn't-use-brands is another way of giving brands power, of making them central to how we perceive ourselves even while we're putting them on the periphery.

It's not just the recession; it's class differences and attitude and wastefulness and, again, overconsumption. Second brother jumped onto the CFL bandwagon with both feet and still finds my attachment to incandescent lightbulbs amusing but as I said to him at the time: if I replaced all of my lightbulbs with CFLs I'd never save enough money on electricity to make up for the cost of the bulbs, especially since they won't last anywhere near as long as they should. If incandescents are costly and inefficient and don't last long, well - turn the damn things off.

Home-made soap... It might not have a brand name but the materials are produced and shipped from somewhere, electricity is used in the making of it, and it takes time. I'd rather let the French make it from their own olive oil and then I can buy it in Winners at half price.

The onus for recycling should be on the producers and the stores because they're the ones who are foisting unnecessary packaging on us. If stores had to deal with the waste perhaps we might see a change in the way things are done. Yes, I yearn for the old days. :D

[cloudsinvenice]

I think you're right; in the end the producers wield the most power in this equation. In theory there's EU legislation about this, but in practice there seem to be some issues. And I remember that when we contacted Apple about sending us a prepaid box for our old computer, they asked us all these questions to identify it which we couldn't answer because they relied on being able to boot the thing up to find out what generation it was! Result: broken thing moved with us and is still in the spare bedroom with all the furniture from all the other rooms not sorted out yet!

[semyaza]

Businesses that 'produce' waste in the form of packaging - grocery stores, hardware stores etc - pay into a controversial program that helps fund province-wide recycling but I feel that stores should provide recycling facilities on site for as many recyclables as possible, especially ones that aren't picked up at curbside such as styrofoam. I pay a recycling surcharge when I buy a can of paint but I can't take the empty can back to the paint store. I have to take it to a recycling depot 8 miles away. That makes no sense.

Over the years the onus has been placed quite firmly on the consumer in a variety of ways. I remember with some nostalgia the time when we gave bin men a bonus at Christmas for taking away furniture and whatnot - the sort of stuff that would otherwise move from house to house with you like your computer. I have an old TV sitting in my spare bedroom that's too heavy for me to carry down to the car to take to the depot. I expect it will be here forever.