“Abre Fácil/Easy Open” is written on the back of the battery’s packaging, an impregnable fortress of cardboard and plastic. Packaging that says “Easy to Open” scares me, because a package that is really easy to open doesn’t need to be advertised. The perforated part may be easier for people with long nails, but for me it’s a defeat. I use the tip of a knife, but the “scratches” on the cardboard, torn without any method or grace, look like garbage. I don’t have OCD and I don’t know of any, but I find the confusion very frustrating. The package contains 16 batteries and you have to put up with this unsightly result for months. Is it difficult to think of suitable packaging for products that we use frequently?
- Pedro Pacifico: Wanted: Unrequited love from when I was a teenager.
- Joaquín Ferreira dos Santos: One oversight and I was at the crime scene.
The toothbrush also comes in the exact same package, but at least this one I open and throw away. The brush is elegant and curvy, and the surface appears to have been molded for high performance. When I need to choose a new toothbrush, I’m always spoiled for choice. It reminds me of José Latour’s excellent mystery novel, The Dirty World. In it, the main character succeeds in fleeing from Cuba to the United States. There he is perplexed in front of a supermarket shelf lined with hundreds of toothbrushes of all types and shapes. That’s when I was lucky enough to find a toothbrush in Havana. Like him, I don’t know what to choose or what to think. However, there must be a reasonable middle ground between scarcity and abundance.
Dirty Worlds was published 20 years ago in Brazil as part of Editor Records’ Black Collection. It’s out of stock, but you can easily purchase it on your virtual bookshelf. Recommended.
I think there are obvious similarities between toothbrush design and sneaker design. The same spirit moves from one to another, filled with aerodynamic curves, contrasting colors, and the promise of performance. The same delusion of efficiency applies to small tasks like going to the bakery or brushing your teeth.
This new brush of mine, purchased with batteries, is black and purple and has “coal minerals” embedded in the bristles. It was manufactured in Ireland, packaged in Mexico and imported by a company in neighboring Cerropedica. They also drive more distance than most people.
- Jose Eduardo Aguarusa: african mamdani
This battery is manufactured in China, and we believe it was packaged there as there is no further information on the matter. The currently exploded card is written in three languages and only states that it was imported by 16 companies from Latin American countries. There is a message exclusive to Brazil. “After use, cells and/or batteries must be delivered to a commercial facility or approved technical assistance network.”
Jabticaba was introduced in 2008 after it was decided that consumers were required to return used batteries to retailers for recycling. This is stated in Konama Resolution No. 401/2008. “The advertising material and packaging of cells and batteries, whether domestically manufactured or imported, must be clearly visually displayed in Portuguese with appropriate destination symbols, warnings about risks to human health and the environment, and the need to transfer to a reseller or authorized technical assistance network after use.”
Despite its bureaucratic soul, the idea behind this rule is good. It is a pity that our ecological conscience still functions like a battery. It will only charge until you print a label. Then it dies and goes to waste. Of course, it’s common.
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