I know, I know - it's only a tissue box

Amazing how some of the most mundane things in life can still make you reconsider concepts such as sustainability and domestic manufacturing.

The tissue dispenser that's sitting on my desk is a walnut box with a bottom panel that slides out. It has a stain where someone apparently left a drink sitting on it for too long, but there's no real damage to the box itself. I bought it for only a dollar at a garage sale because of the novelty of the whole thing. Looks good in my office despite the stain. I could refinish it, I guess, but not until after the holidays.

So here's the deal about this box. As I said earlier, it's walnut. It's also American-made. And it was probably made in 1964. A little sticker on the bottom panel informs me that "This is a genuine Gruvwood Accessory" manufactured by National Products, Inc. of Louisville, KY especially to be featured in the "House of Good Taste" pavillion at the New York World's Fair, presumably in either the Traditional Home or the Contemporary Home or both. Google was quite helpful in this regard.

Yes, it's only a tissue box. And someone designed and manufactured it in order to make money. But that someone was most likely proud of his or her design. Someone loved this humble tissue box.

And when you think about all the facial tissues you've gone through in life, you have to consider all of the disposable paper boxes that existed solely for the purpose of holding all of those tissues, only to be thrown away after it was empty. Even if the box is recycled, there's still a bit of effort involved in the recycling process. This walnut tissue dispenser, however, is slightly older than I am, and it's still going strong. No unsightly cracks, chips, or deep scratches. Just some average everyday wear and the ring from a glass of iced tea or a can of soda. And ready to be used over and over again.

We're pondering the future of the American auto industry now that Republican Senators have torpedoed a bailout bill in hopes of bringing the UAW to its knees and hastening the foreign takeover of the Big Three. But I still think that if Americans could design a simple tissue box to last over 40 years and still look good tending to its one purpose for existence, Americans can also find a way to revive the auto industry, make it friendlier to the environment, make it more sustainable, produce some terrific designs that deliver great fuel mileage and performance, and do all of the above with union labor and decent working conditions. Which would be a fitting slap in the face for Jim DeMint.

Just my two cents for today...

follow on the heels of wars which threaten our very existence.

Can we break that mold? Possibly a bigger challenge than we've ever faced.

In the past, the "threat" has been seen as primarily physical. Today's economic environment is due, in large part to the misdirection of brazillions of dollars away from development of US education, industrial development, innovation, and (importantly) paying attention to how our businesses run (ie regulation). So, where we sit on a precipice of demise that has its roots in war.

The question isn't "can we break that mold?" the question is "can we recognize our situation for what it is?" And yes...it is a bigger challenge than we've ever faced.

I don't see the advantage...

Why does it have to be a cardboard box? Why not a hygenic paper wrapper? Less waste than a cardboard box, and a little easier to recycle. Just open your dispenser, tear open a perforated seal on the refill pack, and dump the tissues into your dispenser.

We're already encouraging each other to use fewer paper and platic bags at the supermarket in favor of reusable cloth bags in order to conserve our natural resources. This idea is along the same lines, and keeps industry on American soil.

designed to hold a box of Kleenex...they existed purely for esthetic purposes - supposedly more visually attractive. Those re-usable bags that WalMart sells are fine but they only hold about 2 dollars worth of groceries...who the hell is going to invest in 20 of them (at, what is it, 3 bucks each?) and fuck around with re-folding and dragging them around them every time a trip to the store is on tap. I don't have the answer but they ain't it. :shrug:

The one sitting next to me is a GreenBag. Durable, roomy, and easy to carry. Their website is www.greenbag.info.

And net bags. And canvas bags. They last longer, they're washable, and the folding business takes very little time. They range in size from the kind that will hold a few toiletries and a book or two to ones that will hold small flat pack furniture items, purchased from Ikea.

I remember buying everything from cookies to eggs in paper bags, and I find that carrying around a few extra bags is no trouble...and it's good sense. In fact, there are things that I simply won't purchase because of the packaging. It's ridiculous. Convenience is fine, but our disposable society is going to kill us. It's time to rethink our usage of resources.....and to rethink how much new "stuff" we really need.

Our houses just get bigger and bigger to contain the "stuff" we seem to think we need. It doesn't make us happier, or wiser, or more thoughtful.....it's time to change before we kill the entire planet, along with ourselves.

'Tree Saver' bags I bought in 1972. The tree, stamped on the front, is a little faded; the handles are starting to look a little worn along the edges but they hold more than $2 of groceries. I 'drag' them around w/ me and refold them when I get home. That is 36 years of dragging & folding. Wonder how many plastic bags I haven't used in 36 years? There are some markets that know how to load cloth bags (Trader Joe's, Whole Foods); some haven't a clue. I have 3 large, heavy duty canvas Eddie Bauer bags, that I found at an outlet store. When they are loaded right, I can barely lift them. I've even used them for weekend get-aways. I've had those since '95. I am known for my use of canvas bags, friends gift them to me. One year at Christmas, I painted plain canvas bags w/ fruit & vegetables and gifted them to friends.

Don't mess around w/ the non-woven bags - I know I have a few, they will not last in the long haul. Get a few canvas bags, drag them around w/ you and refold them. Use one to store the others. Leave them by the door on a coat hook; by the front door table so you can grab them as you leave. Throw them in the washer when something leaks or spills.

It is a good habit to cultivate. You have to want to change your attitude and patterns.

hold a lot of groceries. A local market does sell better and roomier bags, though.

We have three clothes-baskets in our trunk, and just put the groceries in them.. Easy to carry into the house too..and no bags "unloading themselves" in the trunk when you turn a corner:)

I don't....I live in the inner city, and a car would cost about the same amount as my rent to buy, run, insure...and park. I can't put a plastic clothes-basket in my handbag!

:rofl:

My friends and I once went to costco on our way out to lunch, and after we "taste-tested" all their goodies, we decided we had already HAD lunch...so we went to the restaurant and split a piece of cake, 3 ways & had coffee..for dessert :()

I am sitting here, looking at seven pens. Dip pens. Ones that I use, and happen to cherish.

One is glass, with a glass nib. Three are mother of pearl and gold-filled, of various designs. Three are blackened hardwood, with gold filled appointments. They are beautiful and they are functional and I prefer them to throw away ball points. They are of various ages, ranging from pre-civil war to fairly recent manufacture, and they will last for a very, very, long time......I expect to pass them on to my kids, as some of them were passed on to me.

Yes, I do calligraphy, but these pens are simply for the joy of using them, and I wonder how much of modern manufacture will be hanging around, quite useable and functional, in the next century?

And yes, I would like to repair and use a pair of vintage eyeglasses that are still quite useable too....and which will be useable long after the plastic ones are toxic waste.

I've got a bunch of pens just sitting here in my office. The permanent markers and rolling ball pens cannot be refilled and must be thrown away when empty, but there's also a bunch of plastic pens that can easily accept replacement ink cartridges.

It's amazing how much stuff we throw away on a daily basis when you just step back and take a look at it. Which brings me back to your antique pens, which are still going strong.

Thanks for sharing! :hi:

making novelty a value unto itself without attaching it to meaningful change we sacrifice a very important part of our own identity. Our things acquire value through our association with them. If we allow others to manufacture that relationship for us, we lose part of ourselves.

Take socks, for example. When I knit a pair of socks, I do it to the exact measurements of the intended wearer. If one foot is wider or shorter or somehow different than the other, no problem. I just knit that one differently and then mark which foot it's for. If they get a hole in them, I darn them with the leftover yarn, and I only throw them out when I really can't fix them anymore.

If you buy machine-made socks, they only come in two or three sizes for adults at the most. If you need something special, they get more and more expensive (to the point that knitting your own costs the same or is even cheaper), and forget it if you have two different sizes of feet. Those socks wear out faster, are more difficult to darn, and are designed to be thrown away.

Handknit may not always be better, but it usually is.

Tomorrow will be the space program.

We won't even be good as the world's greatest consuming nation. The only growing market will be as mercenaries.

there are still tissue boxes sold in the U.S.

But your tissue box was MADE in the U.S. I doubt if I went to any MAJOR retailer I could find a tissue box made in the USA....not if I hunted for weeks.

Anyway, loved your post.

And that's a great point you made, too. We need more US-made goods - not Saipan-made, but US-made. :hi: