Welcome to
a New Age
Do you
remember hearing the saying, “Waste not, Want not”? What ever happened to that
saying and that way of thinking? It seems inevitable...the inhabitants of this
earth seem to be going in a self-destructing direction. In most parts of the
world, we are over-consuming to where it actually endangers every living being on
this planet. We are under the impression that we “NEED” this or we “NEED” that
when what we do have, is way more than enough. This over-consumption results in
a monumental amount of waste. Even though our world is a magnificent beauty and
there are many people striving to better our communities, if we continue this
downward spiral, our way of life will be substantially affected.
FACTS
You think
I’m kidding when I say we produce an abundant amount of waste. I wish I were over-exaggerating but let’s
take a look at the facts, shall we. FACT: “Every year, the United States generates approximately 230
million tons of "trash"--about 4.6 pounds per person per day. Less
than one-quarter of it is recycled; the rest is incinerated or buried in
landfills” (Learner). It’s
astonishing that just ONE person can produce that much waste per day! Why do we
produce that much? Moreover, why are we throwing it out instead of recycling
the waste? FACT: “Over
75% of waste is recyclable, but we only recycle about 30% of it.” (DoSomething) The leftover 45% of
recyclable waste that is not being recycled could easily make it to many
recycling factories. FACT: “There
are more than 74,000 recycling centers in the United States.” (Green). So,
knowing that there is an ample source of recycling plants, why are we not recycling
more? Is it because of the higher costs to cities and taxpayers to recycle? If
that were the case, than why are we not trying to emphasize the importance of
the “reduce and reuse” system? It could possibly be that people simply do not
care.
OVERALL
APATHY
It seems
that people today are more concerned with when they are going to get the newest
and advanced iPhone or complaining about
how high gas prices have gone up because they have to fuel their huge, gas-guzzling SUV’s. Many people do not think about how much
they’re consuming because they are more focused on what they want, or shall I
say “NEED”. They’re not focusing on the needs of others and furthermore,
they’re not focusing on our Earth’s needs. Yes, I’m saying they’re selfish, by
the way. Today in our society, we have
so many outlets and ways of consuming, that it’s difficult to not get caught up
in the hype of having the newest and coolest gadgets or gizmos. Peer pressure
is, indeed, a bitch. But all considering, there are people that just don’t want
to care or don’t need to care.
For example, the other day, my husband
was mentioning his work and how he was down in Ponte Vedra, a
wealthier beach neighborhood close to where I live. It must have been trash day
because he came across a house that had a bunch of garbage at the end of their
driveway. He saw tons of good items in this garbage, especially what seemed to
be a brand new vacuum cleaner. Upon viewing the vacuum cleaner, the
owner of the house came out and said she only used it once. Since the bag was
full, she decided to throw out the (once) used vacuum cleaner and get a new
one. This story just blew my
mind. I mean, really lady?? I bet you she is a major contributor to our waste
problem here in the States.
The Few Out There
But alas, few and far between, there is a
small amount of involved civilians that take the time to teach, preach and
practice the importance of minimizing our waste problem. They’re activists
and/or everyday do-gooders that go above and beyond to inform and educate others.
There are documentaries like “Dive” that are enlightening and are overwhelming effective at making someone like me aware of the waste problem. In “Dive”, you follow the world of dumpster
divers who live off of grocery store(s) waste. I mean, I’ll never look at a
strawberry in a grocery store the same way again. I encourage you to watch the
film if you haven’t already. It’s eye opening to say the least. If we had more
people that make films like “Dive”, the waste problem would become less of a
global issue.
Conclusion
Overall, it’s sad to think that we are a
world that is starting to over-consume to the point where it harms us. We live
in a selfish world and the average person doesn’t even think about the issue at
hand. It’s all about awareness and the little things we can do to help better our
world. The next time you go to the
kitchen to get a paper towel to use as your napkin, put it down and save it for
when it is needed. There’s no need to waste a disposable paper towel when you
have a perfectly good cloth towel that you can use instead. We really need to
start enforcing and encouraging a new age of “Waste not, Want not” way of life.
I welcome it and won’t waste it.
**Please listen to http://youtu.be/ktvTqknDobU
while reading this blog post :)
