Why Throwaway Culture Is Destroying Our Planet - A Tale of One Toilet
Reading through an online discussion about toilet cleaning today sparked some thoughts about our throwaway culture. The thread featured someone’s heroic journey of restoring a severely stained toilet using various cleaning products instead of simply replacing it - and the responses were quite telling about our society’s approach to maintenance versus replacement.
The discussion revealed a stark divide between two camps: those applauding the restoration effort and those suggesting replacement as the easier solution. What caught my attention wasn’t just the division itself, but how it perfectly encapsulates a broader societal issue we’re facing.
Working in tech, I’ve seen this mentality creep into every aspect of our lives. When something doesn’t work perfectly, the default response is often “chuck it and get a new one.” It’s the same mindset that has people lining up for new iPhones every year while their perfectly functional current models end up in drawers or, worse, landfills.
The restoration project cost about $60 in cleaning supplies, while a new toilet would have set them back anywhere from $200-350. Beyond the obvious financial benefit, there’s something deeply satisfying about restoring rather than replacing. It reminds me of the old vacuum cleaner I inherited from my parents - it’s probably older than my teenage daughter, but with proper maintenance, it still outperforms many modern units.
The environmental impact of our throwaway culture is staggering. Every discarded item, whether it’s a toilet or a smartphone, comes with hidden costs: manufacturing energy, transportation emissions, and the environmental impact of disposal. Some comments in the thread raised valid points about water efficiency in older toilets, but there are ways to modify older models to use less water per flush.
Yesterday, while getting my morning brew at my local café in Brunswick, I overheard someone complaining about their washing machine making strange noises. Their immediate response? “Time for a new one.” This mindset is precisely what manufacturers want - planned obsolescence has become so normalized that we don’t even question it anymore.
The toilet restoration thread gave me hope, though. Many users shared detailed advice about cleaning methods, showing there’s still a community of people who value maintenance and repair. One particular comment about using paper towels soaked in cleaning solution to ensure proper contact time was particularly clever - the kind of practical knowledge that gets lost when we just replace things.
Maybe it’s time we all took a step back and reconsidered our approach to maintenance versus replacement. Yes, sometimes replacement is the better option, especially when dealing with significantly inefficient appliances. But we shouldn’t make it our default response.
The next time something in your house isn’t working perfectly, take a moment to consider whether it truly needs replacement or just some TLC. You might save money, learn something new, and help reduce our environmental impact - all at the same time.
Our grandparents knew how to maintain and repair things. Perhaps it’s time we relearned those skills instead of contributing to the mounting piles in our landfills. After all, the most environmentally friendly product is the one you already own.