Nobody needs to travel with 8 pairs of underwear. Take two or three high-quality ones (e.g. Ex Officio) and wash them at night.
Also, I have yet to visit a civilized location in the world where you cannot buy a decent disposable razor that's better than the electric shaver he carries around the world. I understand they recycle pretty well too, if you're worried about waste.
But why not? Washing every other day takes too much effort. Underwear is small and packs efficiently. I always travel with extra underwear and extra pairs of socks.
Yeah, last thing I look forward to doing while on vacation is washing my own underwear in a bathroom sink. Just bring the extra pairs--they weigh nothing.
> last thing I look forward to doing while on vacation
IDK about nomading, but when dirtbagging you have an excess of time. If the sun is down then your day is done. In the winter especially, having chores to do is welcome reprieve from the cold and boredom. And bathrooms or laundromats are so awesome. Warm and dry and bright.
Landfills are a very effective solution for disposing of stuff when they can't otherwise be economically reused or recycled. As long as food waste stays out, landfills are quite inert. They should have clay lining to prevent waste seeping into the ecosystem.
I'll try on my side below but that goes both ways - where are your figures coming from, and for which country/geography? You also seem to have switched the topic from how much gets recycled to what can be recycled well.
I can't find any figures that say recycling is a success story across the world, or even economically viable and sustainable across most popular types of waste.
I disagree, I can never get them to feel quite clean enough from the sink, so if I’m away a week, I prefer a new pair every day. Quality of life preferences!
I'm tempted to ask what you do with your underwear that makes it so soiled that a hand wash does not get them clean enough but I won't. I'll just state that even a simple rinse tends to be sufficient to get it fresh enough for another day. Hang it on your tent and it'll be dry the next morning - unless it is stolen by a cow or horse, both of which have happened to me. Pitch your tent in the evening on some mountain, wake up the next morning by the sounds of a horse stealing your clothes, the joys of camping in the wild.
A bit of soap works, doesn't it? I'll spare you the details on how a somewhat over-aged sausage leads to colourful underwear but a soap block and some water do wonders even in that case.
Also, I have yet to visit a civilized location in the world where you cannot buy a decent disposable razor that's better than the electric shaver he carries around the world. I understand they recycle pretty well too, if you're worried about waste.