Plastic Is Fantastic Until It’s Trashed

Re “Water Bottles Are Creating a Flood of Waste,” May 28: Reduce, reuse, recycle. Our culture continues to feed this machine of waste, claiming it is unwittingly created. However, waste is knowingly created. A filter at home refills a water bottle more cheaply and easily than purchasing a new container. It just takes some planning or pre-thought to reuse and thereby reduce waste. People are not thinking their purchases all the way through.

What is needed is a change in behavior in which people address the full circle and impacts of their purchases. The value of convenience is being given far more weight than sustainability. Soup in a Styrofoam cup, peanut butter in nonreusable plastic, etc.

Until the impact of the instant-gratification culture is assessed on an equal footing against values and real costs of goods -- from creation to incineration -- landfills will just be trash-filled.

Chuck Arnold

Los Angeles