The Art of the Enduring: Why We Must Unlearn the Disposable Mindset

Have you tried stepping into a drugstore or pharmacy lately to find a simple, lifelong dental cleaning instrument made of pure stainless steel?

I did. The result, after a literal marathon through Zurich and across the border: empty shelves. Time-tested, pure stainless steel instruments have been almost entirely banished. What are we offered instead? Mountains of plastic substitutes, plastic-coated single-use sticks, and expensive electronic waste.

As the founder of YveSkinYoga, I view the world through the lens of minimalism: What truly serves us? What touches our skin, our bodies—and what do we leave behind for the Earth? Seeing enduring, quality materials systematically replaced by short-lived plastic makes me reflect. It feels like a step backward disguised as progress. It promotes a culture of consumption that strips away our self-reliance, pushing us into a cycle of dependency on disposable junk.

A Gift That Outlasts Time
True quality doesn’t need a loud logo. In my bathroom lies a professional hairdressing scissor set. My mother gave it to me about 30 years ago. She worked for WMF at Jelmoli for 25 years—she was a true connoisseur who knew exactly what excellent craftsmanship felt like. Whether this set is actually WMF or comes directly from the traditional Jelmoli selection, I don’t know. It bears no stamp. But it carries the absolute perfection of the craftsmanship of that era.

Even though we have an absolute overabundance of hair salons here in Zurich, it is becoming harder and harder to find that one, soulful, perfect cut. With my fine stainless-steel set, I have been thinning and maintaining my thick hair myself for three decades. Because the quality lasts. For a lifetime.

This intuitive autonomy is exactly what I want for my dental health. I deeply value professional dental cleanings and have gone regularly all my life. Yet, I want the freedom to gently remove minor build-up on my teeth myself in between visits—plastic-free, pure, and in my own rhythm.

The Illusion of the New
We often place blind trust in trends that turn out to be pure commercialism years later. Many of us know this story: on dental advice, old amalgam fillings were replaced with supposedly modern, white composite fillings. And that is exactly where the real problems, the micro-fissures, and the immense costs began. Plastic shrinks, ages, and degrades.

It is the exact same pattern we see on store shelves today: the durable and robust makes way for the short-lived.

Return to the Essence
We must stop flooding our daily lives and our bodies with inferior plastic. An instrument made of pure, sterilizable surgical steel is a statement. It doesn't need to be recycled because it never ends up in the trash. It doesn't age. It stays.

Let’s sharpen our focus on what truly matters. Bring the noble stainless-steel sets back to the shelves and banish the plastic waste. For more longevity, more mindfulness, and true self-reliance—in skincare, in haircare, and in oral hygiene.

How do you see it? Where in your daily life do you miss the genuine, uncompromising quality of the past?

👇 I look forward to your thoughts in the comments.
​
#Longevity #ZeroWaste #YveSkinYoga #Minimalism #Quality #PlasticFree #DentalHealth #Mindfulness #ZurichBusiness

---