time for a change
ever since stumbling upon my co-worker’s blog, Living Plastic Free, last year, i’ve been inspired to change the way i look at the world and reduce my impact on it. think about it. i mean, really think about what it would mean to the way you live your life.
living plastic free
now, i’m not saying that i have managed to reach the level of “plastic free”-dom that EnviroWoman has, but it has definitely changed the way i make the simplest of decisions everyday -from how i get to work, the choices i make at the grocery store, and even the clothes i put on my back.
every time you choose to spend one of your hard earned dollars, you are saying something to the manufacturers of the products you purchase. unfortunately, very often you’re saying that it’s “okay” for them to unnecessarily wrap products in plastic instead of more environmentally friendly choices. even in cases where the plastic chosen is recyclable, facilities to recycle may not exist, or people may simply dispose of it in the garbage instead.
our planet is suffering and we are consuming every available resource that we have at an astonishing pace. if we continue on this path, the planet will become so polluted, so desolate, so hot and dry that it will severely impact the human race’s ability to survive as a species. it may be 50 years from now, it may be 5000, but we will eventually obliterate ourselves into oblivion.
some would argue that it is the cycle of life. maybe. however, we are the most intelligent species to have had the chance to grace the surface of this planet, so to simply not recognize that we are extremely luckily to have been given the opportunity, well, it’s moronic.
it’s time we change the way we do things.
5 Comments, Comment or Ping
Scott
Good points Neil. Jason and myself has been working to cut down on the amount of waste that we produce. It really kicked in more having moved into a townhouse where you put your garbage out once a week in a can as opposed to living in an apartment when you can just run a bag of garbage down whenever you feel like it. Now we are more aware of the actual amount of garbage we produce.
Mar 16th, 2008
martelc
Indeed. If we are so mindless to drive our species into extinction, then it is by our own choice that we will no longer exist. A simple and obvious fact. Survival of the fittest means just that; if we are not smart enough to make sustainable choices, then we do not deserve to survive. Unfortunately, we are taking many other species down with us. I am not optimistic. I can’t predict our extinction, but at our current rate of consumption, it is much sooner than many are willing to admit. I am grateful to live in a city that supports greener choices. Many supermarkets understand why I bring my 10 loose oranges to the cash register to weigh, even if it means less convenience as they roll around on the scale before being placed in a reusable cotton grocery bag. I just wish that others waiting in line behind me would understand before rolling their eyes and giving looks of annoyance before double plastic-bagging their plastic-bagged oranges. It’s their planet that I’m considering too.
Mar 16th, 2008
leia
there is a lot of truth in what you say… there was a time Neil - while in the hospital - I refused to sit on the “blue plastic chairs”. Now, much less disciplined and thoughtless - I am that doublebagger! A little more inspired now, I am willing to use those reusable cloth bags. I have a question though… actually, a few questions. First off, where does plastic come from? What is it a derivative of? for some reason gasoline pops in my head… Secondly, do either of you know how much plastic there really is out there? Just think about it… computers, phones, tv’s, cars, toys, cameras, chairs - ha!, dishes, containers, boats, bags, and the list goes on and on and on…
Mar 18th, 2008
leia
… plastic has truly become a “commodity”.
Mar 18th, 2008
neil
wow! refusing to sit on plastic is what i call commitment.
my very own sister was a double bagger? well, i’m glad to hear that you have switched to reusable cloth bags. it really is about taking simple steps, the very first being becoming aware. once this happens, you can evaluate the choices that you make and start making changes.
to answer your questions, plastic is made using oil (gasoline is also made from oil), and no, i don’t know how much is out there, but there is a lot.
Mar 18th, 2008
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