The sad truth, which I had to face as it came crashing through my lens today, is that we live in a disposable world. Litter is abundant. It’s wreaked havoc on every town and every city in every state and every country. There are many laws about littering, but they don’t seem to be enforced, at least not strongly. This is such a pet peeve for me, the worst being the person who flicks their lit cigarette out of the car window, especially here in this dry, fire-hazardous desert.
When did we get so lazy? I can remember as a child having to get up off of the couch to turn the television channel. We ate from glass plates and used cloth napkins. Most things were packaged either in cardboard, paper or glass. Soda was sold in glass bottles which were redeemable for cash and 100% recyclable.
Although it seems that the invent of plastic is a wonderful thing, for it brings us such ease, it is the single most littered item. Wrappers from cheese slices, water bottles, soda bottles, Styrofoam plates and plastic diapers flood the landfills as well as thousands of other non-biodegradable plastic products.
Sure it’s great to toss that little plastic tray into the microwave and eat the ready-made, frozen three-course meal with the ease of tossing it in the waste bin afterward, and it’s so quick to change the baby and throw away the diaper without having the bother of the cloth diapers, you know, rinsing them out in the toilet and washing loads of diapers, but with all this ease comes a price. A high price. Disease, especially cancer, I suspect is a direct result of the chemicals we put into the plastics we eat and drink from and the fumes they emit from the waste stations. It pollutes the air we breathe and the water we drink. There is now no easy solution as we have been overrun by our own creation.
So, not only are we poisoning ourselves, we are enabling obesity, heart disease, stroke and other health problems linked to “not enough exercise.” I now make a conscious effort to be as physical as possible in my everyday life. I found a job that requires physical labor, I make 7 or 8 trips to and from the truck to bring my groceries into the house, I pull weeds when I see them, I wash the truck at home, I keep the phone at a distance so when it rings I have to physically get up to answer it; whatever it takes. I even gave away all of my plastic food storage containers and purchased only glass bowls and casserole dishes to keep in the house. We are almost plastic free, in our kitchen especially. From this and this alone, I have lost almost 10 pounds and counting. I didn’t give up any foods, but made a conscious choice to cook healthier meals and to read the ingredients listed in the products I buy. My new rule is if I can’t pronounce it, I have no business eating it. Period.
I find it sad that we live in such a disposable world, but I have decided that I will do whatever it takes to exert myself whenever possible and just say no to plastic as often as I can.
No comments:
Post a Comment