The first two — light bulbs and batteries — are nearly universal in their need and yet have become so notoriously bad in their performance that sales of the items are sure to climb even more so.
By once again dating myself [that sounds a bit weird; but just keep reading], I'd have to say it was about 20 years ago when I first began to notice that light bulbs were not worth squat — hell, they're less than squat, and yet we buy these flimsy filaments without batting an eye, week after week, month after month, then toss their crappiness into the trash on our way out the door to buy some more.
But now that these clever manufacturers have begun to be so "green" conscious, we have these annoying tiny fluorescent bulbs that must, since they contain mercury, be sealed in a plastic bag before disposal to prevent and environmental hazard.
Sure.
I have yet to meet anyone who disposes these bulbs in this manner.
Batteries may even be worse.
I have a three-year-old so I understand the usage rate in my family may be a little higher than the norm, but the number of AA batteries that have sought to die in our household is just ridiculous. And yet, trapped by the Ever Ready, Ray-O-Vac, Duracell cabal (not to mention the scores of exclusively made Chinese powerpacks) we are stuck with these increasingly short-lived, pathetic products and yet we must buy them and then constantly toss their toxic carcasses into the trash.
And hand sanitizer. Do I really need to explain this one? There are so many germ scares going on I wouldn't be surprised if people started bathing in the stuff. While Johnson & Johnson has dominated the shelves with its Purell product, other less pricey manufacturers are beginning to gain some traction. And if it won't be remnants of the H1N1 still hovering in the air, you can bet by the time school starts up again there will be something out there that causes us all to start hoarding the stuff.
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