There are many ways that businesses encourage buyers to be wasteful, such as by using planned obsolescence as a business strategy. But what's especially bold is coming out and recommending that consumers throw out a competitor's product, citing "experts" who may or may not exist.
What's happening?
A Redditor shared an ad for Sutera Silverthread towels in r/Anticonsumption. The ad says, "Experts recommend you replace your towels every two years," and offers the company's own towels as a supposedly longer-lasting alternative.
There's one problem with that reasoning, which the original poster pointed out: They'd never heard that recommendation before.
"Who are these so-called experts… and why do they recommend that I replace my towels every two years?" asked the original poster. "Is my washer somehow not working on them after that? I've used the same towel for at least four years — am I gonna get leprosy soon? What will they say if I told them I also got my towel at (gasp) the THRIFT STORE??"
Why is this ad important?
Every year, Americans send an average of 81 pounds of clothing to the landfill, where the items take up space and add to the growing pile of decomposing methane-producing waste. If you add a pile of towels each year, you're increasing that number even more — not to mention the amount of money you'd spend replacing your bathroom set every two years.
By encouraging consumers to replace towels for nebulous, unspecified reasons, Sutera is costing people money and increasing the amount of waste hitting the trash.
Is Sutera doing anything about this?
One point in the company's favor is that its website says its Silverthread towels are made of 100% cotton. That's much better for the environment than a plastic material like polyester, which produces toxic microplastics when washed.
However, while the company calls its product an "emblem of sustainability," there's no other information about any of those aims on its website. The towels are also infused with silver ions. Multiple studies have called into question the impact of these particles on the environment when incorporated into textiles.
If the product does last for much longer than an average towel, that does claim points for sustainability, but the fact remains either way that even the most basic towels should last for more than two years, especially when they are part of a rotation of several household towels.
What can I do to avoid waste?
The most obvious step — which commenters were quick to support — is continuing to use the towels you have until they wear out.
"I've been using the same towel for much longer than I care to say with regular washing, and nothing bad has happened for doing it," said one user. "No smell, no mold, dries just fine."
"Same," said another commenter. "I'm 30 and I have a Little Mermaid beach towel that my parents got me from a Disney Store mail catalog when I was probably still eight. It still looks as lovely as the day I got it!"
"I use my towels until they rip, then I cut them up and use them for rags," another shared. "I'm not buying new towels every 2 years!!!"
As the original poster hinted, you can also save money and keep items out of landfills by buying towels — and clothes — secondhand. Shopping at a thrift store is a surefire way to get a deal and sometimes to uncover unexpected treasures.
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