Throwaway Culture: How Convenience is Costing the Planet

We live in a world built for convenience, but that convenience comes at a cost. Throwaway culture is the practice of using products once (or just a few times) before discarding them. It’s everywhere: from plastic utensils and water bottles to fast fashion, packaging, and even candles.

This mindset, prioritizing speed and ease over sustainability, has quietly shaped the way we consume. Products are now often designed to be cheap, disposable, and replaced rather than reused. And while that may feel normal, the long-term impact is anything but.

According to the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the world produces over 430 million tons of plastic waste every year. Two-thirds of these are short-lived products that quickly turn into waste, polluting our oceans and, all too often, ending up in the human food chain. That’s just one slice of a much bigger problem.

In this article, we’ll explore:

1. How throwaway culture started
2. The industries and items driving single-use culture
3. How it’s affecting the planet
4. Simple steps we can take like using candle refill kits and learning to repurpose what we already have to break the cycle.

Because reducing waste doesn’t have to be complicated -- it can start with something as simple as rethinking what we throw away.

What Is Throwaway Culture?

Throwaway culture is the habit of using products once or just a few times and then throwing them away. It shows up in almost every corner of our lives -- from single-use containers and coffee pods to candle jars that are tossed after one burn.

This single-use culture is driven by the desire for convenience, not durability. Products are designed to be discarded rather than repaired, refilled, or reused. Whether it's fast fashion or everyday packaging, the result is the same: a constant cycle of buy, use, toss.

By becoming aware of how deeply throwaway culture is embedded in our habits and exploring reusable alternatives like Deconstructed Candle refill kits, we can begin to make more intentional choices that benefit both the planet and ourselves.

How Did Throwaway Culture Start?

Post-World War II, mass production accelerated, making disposable goods fast, cheap, and widely available. Advertising amplified this trend, selling the idea of “new and improved” as something to replace rather than repair. In 1955, Life Magazine even celebrated this mindset, coining the term “throwaway living.”

This marked the beginning of a single-use culture that rapidly spread through industries like packaging, fashion, home goods, and candles. What started as convenience soon became the norm, with lasting environmental consequences.

Industries That Fuel Throwaway Culture

Throwaway culture is not limited to obvious single-use items like plastic straws or takeout containers. It’s deeply embedded across entire industries -- many of which rely on products that are designed to be used briefly, discarded quickly, or replaced often. These sectors play a major role in driving the single-use culture that dominates modern consumption.

Some of the biggest contributors to single use culture include:

1. Packaging:

Packaging is one of the most visible and harmful contributors to single-use waste. From plastic food wrappers to shipping materials, packaging often serves a single purpose: protecting a product during transit or display—only to be thrown away moments after opening.

• 36% of all plastics are used for packaging (e.g single-use plastic food and beverage containers); 85% of that ends up in landfills or poorly managed waste systems.
• An estimated 141 million tons of packaging waste are generated each year—making up roughly one-third of global municipal waste.

2. Fast Fashion

The fashion industry has embraced speed and disposability. Fast fashion brands churn out low-cost, trend-driven clothing designed to be worn a few times before going out of style or falling apart.

• Globally, 92 million tons of textile waste are produced each year
• In the U.S., 11.3 million tons (about 85% of all textiles) end up in landfills annually, averaging 81.5 pounds per person countrywide.
  
  

3. Beauty and Skincare

The beauty and skincare industry is a major driver of throwaway culture, largely due to its heavy use of excessive, non-recyclable packaging. Products often come in layers of plastic, glass, and paper that are difficult to separate and recycle. For example, many creams and serums are packaged in multi-component tubes or jars that can't be easily reused or recycled.

This leads to increased waste from both packaging and leftover product, especially since many single-use beauty items, like cotton pads and makeup wipes, are disposable.

Additionally, the industry promotes limited-edition releases and small sample sizes, encouraging consumers to purchase frequently and try new products.

• The beauty industry generates around 120 billion packaging units annually
• About 95% of single-use beauty packaging is discarded after use, with no option to refill or reuse

4. Electronics

The electronics industry is a major contributor to throwaway culture through a practice known as planned obsolescence -- where products are intentionally designed to have a short lifespan or become outdated quickly. Whether it’s smartphones with non-removable batteries, laptops with soldered components, or software updates that slow down older models, many devices are built to be replaced rather than repaired, contributing to massive amounts of electronic waste (e-waste).

• Global e-waste is growing 5x faster than the amount that’s officially documented as recycled
• In 2022, 62 million tons of e-waste were generated—but only 22.3% was formally tracked and recycled
• By 2030, e-waste is projected to increase by 32%, reaching 82 million tons

5. Household Consumables (Including Candles)

While these items aren’t strictly single-use, many everyday household consumables, like cleaning supplies or decorative items, are still designed for short-term use and frequent replacement. Candles, in particular, highlight this issue: even though their glass jars are durable, they’re often discarded once the wax is gone.

• About 7 in 10 U.S. households use candles
• Globally, 28 billion glass bottles and jars end up in landfills each year; In the U.S., only about 33% of glass is recycled
• A glass bottle can take up to 4,000 years to decompose

Environmental Impact of Throwaway Culture

The environmental toll of throwaway culture is vast and deeply concerning:

• Landfill Overflow: Disposable plastics, packaging, and glass-filled items are clogging landfills worldwide. Many of these materials, especially glass, take thousands to millions of years to break down, creating long-term environmental hazards due to overflowing waste sites and contamination.
• Marine Life Harm: Single-use plastics degrade into microplastics that pollute oceans, rivers, and soils. These tiny particles are ingested by marine animals, blocking digestion, causing injury, and entering the human food chain.
• Carbon Emissions: The entire lifecycle of single-use products, from raw material extraction and manufacturing to transportation and disposal, produces significant greenhouse gas emissions. For example, producing and shipping glass jars contributes notably to carbon footprints, intensifying climate change.
• Natural Resource Depletion: Continuous demand for disposable products drives extraction of finite natural resources like petroleum for plastics, minerals for electronics, and sand for glass production, depleting ecosystems and increasing environmental degradation.

How to Take a Stand Against Throwaway Culture

Living sustainably doesn’t mean giving up convenience -- it means making more intentional choices that reduce waste and extend a product’s life. Small shifts in daily habits can make a big impact:

• Reuse or refill what you already own: From water bottles to candle jars, giving items a second life helps reduce landfill waste.
• Choose products with minimal or compostable packaging: Look for goods that skip excess plastic and opt for recyclable or biodegradable materials.
  Invest in higher-quality, longer-lasting items: Fewer, better things reduce the need for constant repurchasing.
• Support brands committed to sustainability: Every purchase is a vote. Back companies that prioritize eco-conscious practices, transparent sourcing, and refillable options.
• Try a candle refill or candle making kit to reuse old jars: Refill your empty candle jars with our Deconstructed Candle refill kits -- pre-blended for a quick, mess-free pour. Just melt, pour, and enjoy your favorite scents all over again. It’s a simple, low-waste way to give your jars a second life without the guilt.

Here are some of our best-selling Deconstructed Candle refill kits to start your low-waste fragrance journey:

• Santal (inspired by Le Labo Santal 26)
• Rituals
• Pomelo
• Sorry Not Sorry (inspired by Diptyque Baies)
• Tobacco Vanille (inspired by Tom Ford Tobacco Vanille)

A Path Forward: One Refill at a Time

Throwaway culture may be deeply rooted, but it's not permanent. Every time you refill, repurpose, or reuse, you’re breaking the cycle one step at a time. These small actions accumulate and send a powerful message: sustainability matters.

At Sincerely Sunday, our mission is simple -- to modernize the way we candle by making it easy to reuse what you already have. Through our Deconstructed Candle refill kits, we’re proving that low-waste living doesn’t have to mean sacrifice. Because a cleaner, more conscious future starts with the decisions we make today and together, we can help rewrite the story of consumption.