Idea：抛弃型社会形成的原因：罐装袋装食品随处可见、报纸杂志等印刷物飙升、工业社会生产有害物质、人口增加……这篇文章提供了大量可引用的数据例子，分析了throwaway society形成的原因。

    Living in a Throwaway Society

    PEOPLE in developed lands throw away mountains of trash. Consider, for example, the annual garbage output of the United States. It has been said that “an equivalent weight of water could fill 68,000 Olympic-size pools.” Some years ago, it was estimated that the residents of New York City alone produced enough garbage each year to bury the city’s huge Central Park under 13 feet [4 m] of refuse!*（example ）

    Little wonder that the United States has been called “a warning example for the rest of the world” when it comes to being “a consumer and throwaway society.” But that country is not alone. It is estimated that the garbage annually produced by the people of Germany could easily fill a freight train extending from the capital, Berlin, to the coast of Africa, some 1,100 miles [1,800 km] away. And in Britain it was once estimated that the average family of four discards six trees’ worth of paper in a year. （example ）

Developing lands are not immune to the garbage glut. A noted newsmagazine reports: “The really bad news is that most of the planet’s 6 billion people are just beginning to follow in the trash-filled footsteps of the U.S. and the rest of the developed world.” Yes, like it or not, most of us today are part of a throwaway society.

    Of course, people have always had things to throw away. But canned and packaged foods and goods are more widely available now than they were years ago, so disposable packaging is everywhere. The quantity of newspapers, magazines, advertising leaflets, and other printed material has soared as well.

    Our highly industrialized and scientific world has also created new kinds of garbage. The German newspaper Die Welt claims that “approximately nine million autos are scrapped in the European Union annually.” Disposing of them is no simple task. Even more problematic is the question, How do you safely dispose of nuclear or chemical wastes? Back in 1991, the United States reportedly had “mountains of hot garbage and no permanent site for storing it.” A million barrels of deadly substances were said to be sitting in temporary storage with an ever-present “danger of loss, theft and environmental damage from mishandling.” In 1999 alone, some 20,000 sources in the United States produced over 40 million tons of hazardous waste.

    Another factor is the world population, which has skyrocketed during the past century. More people, more garbage! And much of the population is oriented toward consumerism. The Worldwatch Institute recently concluded: “We have used more goods and services since 1950 than in all the rest of human history.”

    Granted, few of those living in developed lands want to do away with all those “goods and services.” For instance, just think of how convenient it is to go to the store and pick up groceries that are already packaged and then bring them home in paper or plastic bags supplied at the store. If people were suddenly deprived of such modern packaging, they might soon realize how deeply they have come to depend on it. And to the extent that it is more hygienic, such packaging contributes, at least indirectly, to better health.

    Despite such advantages, though, is there any need for concern that today’s throwaway society might have gone too far? Evidently there is, for various solutions that have been designed to address the garbage glut have barely made a dent in the avalanche of human refuse. What is worse, the attitudes that underlie today’s throwaway society have even more troubling implications.

    Before, and during WWII, when things got broken—they got repaired! At least, that’s the way it was around our house. Tires were patched, and booted and then patched over and over again. Everyone carried a jack, a hand-pump and a repair kit wherever they traveled. If a radiator sprung a leak, it was removed, repaired and placed back in service. Of course, in those days labor was much less expensive. Whatever parts were deemed useful for further use they were salvaged. Daddy never threw away a piece of scrap-iron, for each piece was cherished and used to repair his farm equipment. When plow points were worn thin, Daddy forged scrap iron pieces onto them; and extended their life a few more months. Today it seems everything is manufactured with planned obsolescence. If appliances fail for any reason, it’s cheaper to throw away than repair.

We didn’t have flip-flops—but our shoes made a flip-flop sound as we walked or ran. When the original sole wore through, rubber sole repair kits were purchased at the Five and Ten-Cent Store! Each kit contained a small grater for roughing the old leather sole, two rubber soles, and a tube of rubber cement for gluing new soles into place. If carefully repaired, the sole might stay in place for a week or so. The glue always seemed to give way on the front part of the sole—thus a flip-flopping sound was made as we walked or ran along. We couldn’t get leak sealants for bicycle inner tubes, so Daddy filled mine with heavy molasses. It worked fine in summer, and the sugar-ants loved it. However, in winter the molasses lumped to one side, and riding at any speed was at best a bumpy ride.

    Coffee tins were salvaged around our house. Mother either used them to store rendered lard for cooking, or Daddy recycled them as nail, and bolt holders, or for storing seed used in planting Mother’s Spring garden.

    Whenever we moved, Daddy rolled all the barbed wire fencing, and pulled the posts to use at the new farm. We never burned or threw away a piece of lumber that could be used to build fences, chicken coups or a garage. Every piece of lumber was saved and used time and time again. Today it still troubles me seeing old houses torn down to make way for the new! I know it’s cheaper to raze than to save old lumber— but some of it is so beautiful!

    When Mother ran out of store-bought syrup, she’d made sugar or simple syrup, flavoring it with walnut, maple or whatever extracts were handy. Daddy didn’t drive into town for a new bottle of syrup or a pack of cigarettes. If he ran out of cigarettes, he pulled out a pack of papers and a sack of Bull Durham then rolled his own. If he had time, he’d get out his cigarette-rolling machine and made a few extra.

    Our motto should have been, “Waste Not, Want Not!” In winter, antifreeze was expensive, so Daddy just drained the radiator until the next time he needed to use the car; and then he filled the radiator with water. The only antifreeze available during the war was alcohol based, and that boiled away quickly for radiator caps in those days didn’t do well under pressure.

    Even though Mesquite wood was free, Mother never wasted a thing; in winter she kept two or three irons on top of the living room stove. If she didn’t use them for ironing our clothes, she’d wrap them in soft flannel material and place them at the foot of our beds. You haven’t lived, until you’ve gone to bed on a cold winter’s night to snuggle cold feet up close to a hot iron or brick wrapped in an old piece of soft flannel sheet.

    A couple of years ago our refrigerator’s icemaker sprung a leak. It was still a good refrigerator and freezer but getting on in years; so we retired it to the garage and bought one of those new fangled French-door models. You’ve seen them advertised! It’s the one with two drawers in the freezer, an icemaker, and a drawer compartment for keeping all the munchies at just the right temperature for midnight snacks!

    The only trouble we had with the new fangled contraption—it didn’t make enough ice for having company. I complained to the manufacturer, but a lot of good that did—they were way across the Pacific Ocean, and already had my money! The solution was to make ice when we had no company, and store it in the garage freezer. Then a couple of months ago the new ice dispenser quit working. The company wanted $185 just to make a service call—parts and labor were additional! I fixed both problems with an on-line purchase from EBay. I ordered an icemaker that works anywhere. If I want ice beside my Lazy-Boy, I’ve got it! If I want ice at my bedside, I’ve got it! It cost $139. Tax, title and shipping! I didn’t believe the instructions, but they were true; it makes ice in six minutes. It didn’t do it the first time—it took seven minutes. Now it makes enough ice for company, even when we have all the grandchildren!

    Now days I find myself on the horns of a dilemma. I want to repair things—and not throw them away! My overstocked garage is a testament to that! Still I want to enjoy the newest products the market has to offer. I suppose our boys will suffer the consequences of my indecisions when I’m gone—but I’ll not concern myself with matters conducive to their problems!