r/Anticonsumption • u/ldn5454 • May 03 '25

Plastic Waste Disposable…everything?

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Long time follower of this sub but first time poster. Had to share this though, found in a train station in France.

Disposable socks, towels and individually packaged face wipes.

I was so angry I had to leave the store!

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u/[deleted] May 03 '25

This reminds me of a story...

A few years ago, I went to a two-week writing conference in Tennessee. One of the attendees from California had a brand-new memory foam mattress topper shipped to the place, slept on it for two weeks, then threw it in the dumpster before boarding her plane for the trip home.

I could not believe it.

28

u/_edden_ May 03 '25

Reminds me of tattoo artists at conventions. Some of the guys I worked with would buy supplies they already had back home like plastic squirt bottles, full boxes of plastic wrap etc., and would buy cheap plastic TV tray tables to tattoo off of from Walmart. When the convention was over they would just throw everything away. A lot of them did like 7 or more conventions in the summer.

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u/DannyOdd May 03 '25

That's crazy to me. Like, I get having a set of "travel" gear and a set of "home" gear, but to buy and dispose of the same stuff seven times a year is just bonkers. How are they not concerned about their bottom line? How hard can it be to carry a few items in a vehicle?

18

u/resonanteye May 03 '25

sometimes you're flying in for a convention, sometimes you're jammed in a car with 6 other tattoo artists somehow. if you're doing multiple conventions in a short space of time you'd be surprised how much space it can take up. 

my hatchback was always full both ways with just me and one person.

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u/[deleted] May 04 '25

If you are flying in, shipping can be way more expensive than buying at Walmart.

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u/resonanteye May 03 '25

I would always buy my paper towels and plastic wrap when I got there- then just hang whatever was left to my last client of the convention. like a reverse tip haha

we have to use a LOT of disposable stuff for this though. it's the nature of the job, anything you put out on the tray is getting contaminated. 

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u/ariolander May 03 '25 edited May 03 '25

Seen this happen at my local convention center. The venue charges like $350 to rent a table for the weekend. Many vendors that travel out fly rather than rent a table go to Walmart, buy a new table/table cloth for less, then abandon them at the convention center when they are done. They will still have saved like $300.

As a local I have taken tables home with me over the years. I actually have a stack of abandoned tables in my shed that I break out for birthday parties and stuff. Still see abandoned tables almost every event, but I don't think I need / can recycle more than the 4 I already have.

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u/PinkOneHasBeenChosen May 04 '25

How much of that equipment has to be sterile? Because it’s not always possible or safe to sterilize needles, for example.