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Just one word: plastic
Jun. 1st, 2007 06:45 pmI would love to say I am never buying anything plastic/packaged in plastic again, but I know I can't possibly sustain that. But *damn*, this article* is depressing. (Scroll down to the photo of the turtle -- it makes me want to cry every time I see it or even think about it.)
Here's the thing (and if you've heard this rant before, as I know some of you have, forgive me): Looming environmental disaster can seem so daunting, and articles like this one (or, worse, those ones about New Yorkers who live green by recycling toilet paper and using their own feces as mulch) can make you feel like anything you can do is just a drop in the bucket. (I mean really, even if I could completely eliminate my share of the 185 pounds of plastic every American throws away every year, how far will that go when there's a region of ocean TWO TIMES THE SIZE OF TEXAS that's chock full o' plastic debris?)
But it's so, so very dangerous to feel that way. Look at it this way instead: If every American threw away JUST ONE POUND less of plastic, that's more than 250 million pounds of plastic. If only 10 percent of us managed to reduce our plastic waste by 10 whole pounds, that would completely make up for the 90 percent who did nothing.
So:
* Next time you buy a drink? Get it in a can (or, better yet, a glass bottle, if you can find one, but they're hard to find).
* Ask for paper bags instead of plastic at the grocery store.
* Buy the biggest container possible of laundry detergent, etc., so there's less packaging per ounce of product.
* Forward the link to that article around -- if 30,000 fans can join an LJ community to protest strikethrough, we ought to be able to do a little something to save the planet as well.
* E-mail that link to your elected representatives and suggest the U.S. join the 23 other countries in the world that have either banned or taxed the use of plastic bags.
Not to be preachy, but holy cow. I am *haunted* by that damn turtle.
*found via Mimi Smartypants
Here's the thing (and if you've heard this rant before, as I know some of you have, forgive me): Looming environmental disaster can seem so daunting, and articles like this one (or, worse, those ones about New Yorkers who live green by recycling toilet paper and using their own feces as mulch) can make you feel like anything you can do is just a drop in the bucket. (I mean really, even if I could completely eliminate my share of the 185 pounds of plastic every American throws away every year, how far will that go when there's a region of ocean TWO TIMES THE SIZE OF TEXAS that's chock full o' plastic debris?)
But it's so, so very dangerous to feel that way. Look at it this way instead: If every American threw away JUST ONE POUND less of plastic, that's more than 250 million pounds of plastic. If only 10 percent of us managed to reduce our plastic waste by 10 whole pounds, that would completely make up for the 90 percent who did nothing.
So:
* Next time you buy a drink? Get it in a can (or, better yet, a glass bottle, if you can find one, but they're hard to find).
* Ask for paper bags instead of plastic at the grocery store.
* Buy the biggest container possible of laundry detergent, etc., so there's less packaging per ounce of product.
* Forward the link to that article around -- if 30,000 fans can join an LJ community to protest strikethrough, we ought to be able to do a little something to save the planet as well.
* E-mail that link to your elected representatives and suggest the U.S. join the 23 other countries in the world that have either banned or taxed the use of plastic bags.
Not to be preachy, but holy cow. I am *haunted* by that damn turtle.
*found via Mimi Smartypants