[cylinder]

At my last job, everyone drank several bottles of water a day (freely available in the fridge). And they couldn't be bothered walking the empty bottles to the kitchen where there was a recycling bin - straight to the trash.

This, even though they added filtering to already good NYC tap water. Only myself and one other person bothered to fill up a glass instead of take a bottle.

I sometimes feel like Americans go out of their way to be wasteful. Like it is some sort of badge of honor or expression of wealth to be able to do this or have a giant SUV that gets 3mpg.

Edit: don't get me started on the Keurig machine!

[Lagged2Death]

Status symbols are inherently wasteful. Waste and the situation implied by that waste (high status and affluence) is their function. I believe this is generally true across cultures, but it's often easier to see them for what they are in someone else's culture.

[Bombthecat]

So we Germans aren't right in our mind trying to push for recycling and energy waste?

[Apofis]

I don't know, I live in NYC and after I bought a filter I started drinking a lot more tap water. There's still something in the water that improves that waters taste after it's removed.