Just a little plastic. As a treat.

In general, I’m very conscious about reducing the amount of plastic I consume. And, like a lot of other well-intentioned, eco-concious try-hards, I carry around a lot of guilt for the plastic that I buy anyways. But recently, I saw a piece of plastic that I new I needed to buy right away, and I have no regrets.

Presenting - My 1952 Westclox Big Ben Moonbeam alarm clock with “Considerate Alarm” (TM) technology!

70 year old plastic. Still looking good!

What I love about this clock (other than having that MCM design that all millennials crave), is that it’s a piece of plastic that has retained its beauty and functionality after so many decades. This thing was designed to last forever, which isn’t something we generally associate with plastic in the 21st century. You can disassemble this clock piece by piece (and I did), replace any individual component (and I did), and put it back together to have it working just like new (and I mostly did). It’s as if the people that made this clock never intended for you to throw it away.

I think there are a lot of levers to pull when it comes to reducing our environmental footprints, and eliminating most plastic production is definitely one of them. There’s a lot of focus right now on recycling plastic as well, which will also have to be a part of any comprehensive solution. But I’ve been thinking a lot recently on the concept of decycling plastics - that is, removing it from the cycle of infinite reuse that is neither sustainable nor realistic and finding a long-term resting place for that material. The plastic in this clock probably should never have been manufactured in the first place, but perhaps a well-designed piece of functional art like this is a suitable final destination for some of the plastic that has already been produced and is mostly likely eventually bound for the trash. A long term solution to plastics pollution needs to consider both recycling technology and recycled product design. Examples from the past, like the Moonbeam, might be part of the inspiration we need to create a beautiful and sustainable future.