Time warp moment: This was written back in the day when folks having barrels on hand was a real thing. They were the “smile” box of the day.
The invention of the corrugated, disposable cardboard box put most barrel-makers out of business, relegated to what we think of now, mostly serving distilleries and vineyards. (When I worked in a fancy gift shop in the 70s, we still received the nice china sets from England and Europe in straw packed barrels!)
Barrels, and wooden crates, were the original recyclables, used at home for storage, moving, and re-shipping, lasting years depending on how they were used and stored. Those old timey children merrily chasing hoops with sticks were using the staves from old, broken down barrels.
Of course, most folks back then weren’t buying so much stuff they were overwhelmed with Chewy boxes like we are now. The disposable box not only put a large industry out of work (so ubiquitous, “Cooper” is a common last name), but our reliance on shipping products is contributing to an increase in deforestation to keep up with demand, and overwhelming our modern intentions to recycle it. Some centers are refusing to take more cardboard, there is such a backlog, so it just gets shunted to the burner or landfilled, and more trees are cut down.
The modern fixation with “more convenient and cheaper” usually has a hidden, much higher cost, and here is another example.
prairiedogdance Premium Member about 2 hours ago
Time warp moment: This was written back in the day when folks having barrels on hand was a real thing. They were the “smile” box of the day.
The invention of the corrugated, disposable cardboard box put most barrel-makers out of business, relegated to what we think of now, mostly serving distilleries and vineyards. (When I worked in a fancy gift shop in the 70s, we still received the nice china sets from England and Europe in straw packed barrels!)
Barrels, and wooden crates, were the original recyclables, used at home for storage, moving, and re-shipping, lasting years depending on how they were used and stored. Those old timey children merrily chasing hoops with sticks were using the staves from old, broken down barrels.
Of course, most folks back then weren’t buying so much stuff they were overwhelmed with Chewy boxes like we are now. The disposable box not only put a large industry out of work (so ubiquitous, “Cooper” is a common last name), but our reliance on shipping products is contributing to an increase in deforestation to keep up with demand, and overwhelming our modern intentions to recycle it. Some centers are refusing to take more cardboard, there is such a backlog, so it just gets shunted to the burner or landfilled, and more trees are cut down.
The modern fixation with “more convenient and cheaper” usually has a hidden, much higher cost, and here is another example.