If we could leave all the political rhetoric out of it, Earth Day should be about making a change to preserve and minimize our impact on the environment. We shouldn’t need a government mandate to tell us to be more conscience of our gluttony, and I don’t want Rush Limbaugh calling me a flaming liberal because I think people should recycle, reduce, and reuse. So much in life is about common sense, and sometimes I wonder if we are so consumed with getting what we feel we deserve that we loose sight of what just might be best. Yesterday, the Today Show said that the United States was the number one trash producing country, and that the average American produces 1600 pounds of trash per year, and that a good amount of that trash could be recycled. That is almost 4 1/2 pounds per person per day.
Just as New Year’s resolutions give us the opportunity to make a goal to improve our health, Earth Day should be about making a change in our habits to improve our environment. If you don’t already use cloth bags at the grocery store, make a commitment to do it. If recycling is your weakness, start small and make improvements. If you purchase plastic water bottles, buy a reusable container.
Did you know that U.S. consumers purchased enough water bottles last year to stretch around the earth 190 times? And that 38 billion of those bottles ended up in a landfill?
For me, I think my goal this year will be to start purchasing napkins made from recycled materials and save a few trees! :)
No comments:
Post a Comment