Friday Meme

Let's all take the time to really understand what we are talking about before waxing poetic about how much we know.

Where Does Your Waste Go?

     One of the main goals for me here is to get people to reduce their ecological footprint. Using less materials that can't be recycled, reducing the amount of single-use items (I'm looking at you plastic bags!) and making compost out of food waste. Without being obnoxious, I try to help my friends think a little bit about their actions and the repercussions that those actions have. Yes, my advice is at times unsolicited, however I do my best not to cram said advice down people's throats. I just try to share what I have learned reducing my amount of waste. Point out that some things are thrown away for no reason. If you're just gonna toss it after using it once, why not skip that step and not even use it to begin with, you know?

     Yesterday, a friend from my German class drove me home. She asked me if it was okay with we stopped at the supermarket so she could pick up a few things. First stop was the produce aisle (supermarkets are pretty much the same in Germany as in America, just smaller). My friend grabbed some bananas off the shelf, pulled off a plastic bag from the roll and threw them in, like so many of us do. How many times to do you that? Grab a bag for something that really doesn't require one?

     I was like, "Whaaaaat? You don't need a plastic bag for bananas. They are already attached together in nature's carrying case. They come pre-wrapped in their own organic wrapper! Do you really need a bag?"
     My friend looked perplexed and said, "But the bags are here for us to use." It seems that she hadn't really considered why she had grabbed one, but just automatically grabbed the plastic bag off the roll because they were there. "It isn't a big deal. So what?" she waved me off and moved on to the spice aisle.
     So I asked her, "Are you going to use that bag again?"
     "Well, no," she answered...and then there it was. The look. The look that many people get when they realize something for the first time. I had interrupted her normal behavior with a question that she could not quite answer.

     My friend kept the bananas in the bag and after checking out, she drove me home. I did not convince her to not take the bag, nor did I try. But, I did get her to think about it. In a week or so, she may very well show up to class and tell me that she bought bananas at the market again, but this time didn't put them in a plastic bag. Which is a small victory. We have been so conditioned to grab things when we shop that we really don't need: plastic bags, individually wrapped meals, all that crap at the check out counter. Many times, we grab that stuff because everyone else does without thinking about what happens to that plastic bag once you get home, remove the bananas and toss the bag away.

     Quite often, when I point these types of things out to people, they stop and think. If I can get someone to re-evaluate those small actions, then it makes a difference. Because the person I get to reconsider their behavior with something as ingrained into every day life like grocery shopping, they will most likely share with others what they now do if they make a change. That helps shift towards a more closed-loop and sustainable way of life. Less waste because we reduce, reuse and recycle. That's how you change the world.

     Here's a video about food waste. Its short and good. Enjoy!

Study Pollution, Go to Jail

Photo by: John D Murray May, 2013

     Did you hear the one where the state legislature that ensured people's rights by taking away their freedom?  The State of Wyoming recently passed a law that makes it a crime for citizens to take pictures of waterways or land, take samples of water or soil or to collect any other type of data that is considered pollution data from any public or private land. Only people granted special and specific permission will be allowed to do so. FREEDOM!!!!

     So, Wyoming, the home of Devil's Tower, the Grand Tetons, Yellowstone and  the head waters of the Missouri River has taken away the rights of their citizens. All this talk about freedom and liberty and putting an end to the government conspiracy to take away people's rights, and no one in Wyoming stood up to stop this? So now, in order to discover if a company is polluting a river or the State is not adhering to environmental regulations, a person has to get permission from the government to take water samples, take soil samples...shit, even take photos? Sorry, but that does not ring of freedom to me.

     Wyoming is a conservative state, with  a large group of people who are fighting to maintain gun ownership rights, to reduce government regulations and government influence on their everyday lives, as well as to ensure freedom for all their citizens. So for them to pass such a law that gives the government more power over the lives of their citizens is contradictory and hypocritical.

     And people wonder why we are falling behind the rest of the world when it comes to leadership, innovation and education?

...and the Supreme Court Taketh Away

     Last week, the Supreme Court took two GIANT steps forward, bringing our great nation closer to meeting the ideals set forth by our forefathers. Gay rights were finally recognized and healthcare was ensured for all. So naturally, Monday saw the Supreme Court rule that the President could not set new EPA regulations on Mercury emissions from coal power plants, tossing out the new EPA Mercury and Toxin emissions standards executive order. One giant step back.

     I mean, does the Supreme Court need a prescription for Lithium or what? The EPA emission ruling just doesn't jive with the Gay Rights and the Obamacare rulings. Right? It is incredible to me that this country can take such progressive steps one minute, only to turn around and do something so different. Coupled with Wyoming's new law that criminalizes the collecting evidence of pollution on public land, it hardly seems like the sane court.

     Where is the ruling that will finally get people to accept that Climate Change and pollution are real issues that need to be addressed? Probably sitting in the discard pile next to the reformed Campaign Finance proposal.