My 2018’s List of Obsolete or Nuisance or Useless Items or Inventions
Our needs and things that support them changes overtime,
based on new technologies and inventions, on new and better ways of doing things or
new requirement for the greater good.
With pressing needs on sustainability side – for one, a lot
of what we use or buy today should be shelved and forgotten, replaced by more
eco-friendly, safe or value-adding things in life.
Here are my picks of obsolete or nuisance everyday items:
1.
Paper staples, staple wire and staple wire
remover. I’m sure you’ve been "nuisanced" by the little evil thing one way or the other – and the fact is, we moved on
and invented other ‘attacher’ techs.
Binder clips, old-school paper clips, clothes line clip, tapes – you
name it. Staples are not just nuisance
or safety issue – it’s a waste of metal (non-reusable) – yes small and trivial but
imagine a trillion little angled wire pieces used by 2-3 billion people! Loose or misfired staple wires lying on the floor is an obvious safety risk for kids and barefooted adults. So the next time the cashier attempts to
staple your receipt with the card validation print-out, or staple the top-open
end of the paper bag - shout “Nooooh”.
2.
Wet umbrella plastic bag and dispenser. The dispenser looks like some hi-tech
machine, in fact – it’s a hi-tech plastic TRASH GENERATOR! The trick is to shake your umbrella dry,
fold it, and go in the building or mall with your umbrella neatly folded or
stored in your outer pack. If it drips – so what, the mat and janitors will
take care of it! For me, this is one of
the most useless innovation of the past 10 years!
3.
One-time-use plastic gloves. Provided by restos serving crabs, chicken
wings or other messy-to-eat food. Next
time, just wash your hands you lazy dude!
4.
Windbreaker jacket. O wait, let me explain before you complain.
;) On the top rank, there’s the ultimate
waterproof (windproof) shell jacket used in various outdoor activities. Then there’s the water resistant (not
‘proof’) which doubles as wind jacket.
But there’s a super light, thin, single layer poly-version, highly
breathable, compactable to the size of your fist, that ‘breaks light wind’ but
will readily get soaked on light rain – THIS is the windbreaker that I’m
talking about. If you’re racing (cycling
or trail run) in a windy place, there are alternative body-hugging suit/
outwear that provides the same /better protection – without the wind drag! If you’re climbing or hiking – at the very
minimum, choose the water-resistant, windproof (or high wind-resistant)
version. it’s a waste of money (and
fossil fuel resource) to buy something with a very limited use!
5.
PET water plastic bottle. Really, you still buy this evil thing? Any outdoor or home stores already offer tons
of other re-usable, durable water bottles.
Buy a water filter for home use instead of buying bottled water. I hope you are aware that PET (polyethylene) leaches
toxins (the plastic’s additives) in your drinking water when PET is either
heated or ‘cracked’.
6.
Grocery plastic bags. Well, most of my items seems to be
plastic-based! That’s because many of
these already have proven alternatives.
Did you count how many you got/used from last year’s? And how many more this year? (plastic or the oxo-biodegradable is bad,
even using starch-based biodegradable can be eliminated).
7.
Membership cards! I still wonder who keeps 50+ cards in their
card wallet, card bag, card whatever. I
stopped a long-time back being nuisanced by so many ‘cards to bring’. Membership nowadays are digital, and if not
– ask your provider to switch to that.
Even driver’s license (or other ‘license card’) should start introducing
digital, easy-to-verify version (vs. a plastic card that can be readily
faked). PADI (where I have dive master
license) had stopped issuing new cards since many years back and simply offers
a website to verify membership status.
8.
Drinking straw, stirrers (and all disposable
plastic utensils). Throw-away plastic straws and stirrers should no longer be
made, shipped, sold, and used! It got
old! If you must (and usually there’s
no “must” here), use alternative metal or wooden (re-usable version). Even these re-usable ones - I still find them unnecessary as you can
always drink without a straw, or stir your coffee without a stirrer, period. Use spoon for drinks with crushed ice.
9.
Polysterene for food products. I still see ‘styro’ for take-aways. There is the old (unresolved) issue on ozone
layer, and a bigger issue on climate change. It simply has no place in the modern food
storage or food serving world.
10.
Party balloons!
Okada Manila hotel almost made a disastrous mistake of attempting a
record-breaking balloon drop/release to welcome the new year. Thankfully, they cancelled the plan. It’s a
wonder why their PR agency even came up with a ploy that has no place in a
climate-change-challenged world. Individually
– we all should stop ‘pleasing the kids’ with colorful balloons. (Similar to the ‘awa act’ of giving them bad
sweets, softdrinks or toxic plastic toys). Or worse - worse if you can’t say no, use
paper balloons preferably as part of their art-making activity (i.e. purposeful).
11.
Sachets!
Be it shampoo, soy sauce, pineapple slice, small snacks – any! This is one ‘innovation’ that is secretly
wreaking havoc to our oceans – a ‘small innocent trash’ that contributes
significantly to global plastic pollution.
We have to rethink and remodel this ‘sachet economy’. True that far-flung villages in Phils or
Thailand or Indo, etc may benefit from ‘tingi’ or smaller portion buying, but
it’s producing a wrong buying culture as well.
Why use and buy shampoo and conditioner -in sachets (i.e. luxury) if you’re
saving up cash for your meals? I’ve
heard of the idea (for small retail stores) – to offer small portions from big
containers – although easier for things like patis, toyo or vinegar, it will be
a challenge for other things like shampoo, clothes conditioner, gels, food
chips and the likes. Companies should recognize this issue and re-innovate this packaging-magic-turned-evil into something else –
like putting up refilling stations or automated refilling vendo-machines. And similar to CFC-ozone issue decades ago,
corporations should talk together and come up with alternative and sachet-decommissioning plans.
12.
Mobile billboards. Using buses, trains, taxis or any PUVs for
commercial ads may be good and adds value (i.e. a second purpose) to fuel
consumption. But using specially designed
billboards or big poster board mounted on a moving, fuel-consuming,
traffic-impacting vehicle is idiotic.
So for you – what item will you
throw out of the window? What will you commit this 2019?
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