Jul 04, 2026

Plastic was patriotic once. What's patriotic now?

This is a taste of our newsletter "On the Rise" by Sydney

The invention of plastic was an extraordinary feat of human inventiveness. It was initially used in the military during World War II for supplies. After the war, the plastic industry needed a new customer. It found one in America’s homes.

Tupperware, Formica, Saran Wrap, bottles, Barbie dolls. A flood of new, affordable goods promised to make life easier. Publications touted a new way of life by joyously proclaiming the ease of "Throwaway Living." Claiming that "no housewife needs to bother" to clean! Just use it once, and then throw it away!

Plastic was/is convenient, cheap, and let’s face it… innovative at the time. It was marveled at as a triumph of human ingenuity. A true American story, dubbed the “material of a thousand uses”.

Plastic fit perfectly into our narrative of patriotism, somewhat embedded in the stories of mass consumerism, growth, and prosperity. Forward-thinking problem solvers were a part of the burgeoning American Dream. Buying more and throwing away more became a part of the culture.

Some of the optimism was sincere, and some of it wasn’t at all. Industry-funded campaigns spent decades falsely promoting recycling as a solution, even though they knew it wasn’t.

Now we know the real cost to people and the environment. Since the great accumulation of single-use plastics beginning in the 80’s, to learning more and more about toxicity, microplastics, and the overwhelming issue of plastic pollution we face. We know we were marketed to and fooled into thinking the consumerist way is the only way.

What do we do with what we now know?

In my hopeful view, I’d like to think our narratives around what it means to be American are still being written. We are still forward-thinking problem solvers, this time not toward disposable things.

Here are some questions on my mind this Semiquincentennial July 4th. Questions with no easy answers in sight. I think the questions are more important than answers, anyway.

What does interdependence instead of independence look like?

We need each other.

What values do Americans hold strongly now?

Can the story shift from more, cheaper, faster toward something like care, for people and for place?

If plastic was patriotic then, what solutions can lead us now?

Sol Refill is not a nostalgia trip back to some pre-plastic era. It’s definitely not a guilt trip about the last 70 years. We believe that a reuse culture can be a part of our generation’s version of ingenuity.

The good news is America is a work-in-progress. America is not necessarily about the people in charge. It’s people showing up, in small ways, to build something better than what they inherited. America is you.

ON THE RISE is a newsletter by Sydney to help us remember there are many things on the rise, not only the temperature. Things like new ideas and innovations. Inspiring art and stories. Helpers and happenings. It aims to foster community care for the earth and each other. Did someone forward you this newsletter? Sign up here.