Really?? Paper towels and magazines?!
Posted 02-15-2012 at 08:48 AM by LookinForMayberry
Things are pretty slow at my desk so while I wait for things to do, I've been reading environmental sites as background research for the environmental management project I have in process. I've blogged earlier about how depressing the overall situation looks, despite our gains in some areas. Yesterday I came across a carbon "calculator" that was supposed to tell the responder how she was doing at reducing her footprint.
The first step was a question regarding how many times does she use paper towels each week. The second was how many magazines does she subscribe to each month. I didn't go further, too disgusted to continue. Really? Paper towels and magazines?
Yes, I do understand that used paper towels are not recyclable, they do use bleach in their manufacture, and they do consume wood pulp. All that aside, if we took the sum total of all the paper towels used and filled the state of Texas with the waste, the impact of the waste in ten years is nil compared to the run-off from synthetically fertilized crops that fuel most of our bascarts, not to mention the toxins used in the processing of the foods most of us eat.
Then there's the air emissions from our fossil fuels -- not one question in the calculator touched on how it isn't just our gas mileage in our cars, but the industrial consumption of fuels to operate our utilities, and our factories.
By the way, did anyone happen to catch the headlines that the fracking in our northern states turns out to be releasing even greater carbon-dioxides than the use of the fuels themselves?
No, none of that comes up on Mr or Ms Average American's news -- you have to go look for it.
And, why is that, for heaven's sake? With our planet facing a grave future from our environmental practices, why isn't every news media source providing information on what can be done? Where is our leadership?
Oh, right -- our leadership is controlled by lobbyists that represent those that are poisoning that very same environment. Wouldn't want that information to become too public.
Sigh.
Meanwhile, we forego making a pot of coffee so we can have a fresh brewed single serving from our K-cups (that are not recyclable), and check our iphones (filled with toxins that are only marginally recyclable), and check fox news (which is paid advertising), on our way to our office in our fuel efficient (really?) car with a green leaf on its rearend -- all by ourselves.
The first step was a question regarding how many times does she use paper towels each week. The second was how many magazines does she subscribe to each month. I didn't go further, too disgusted to continue. Really? Paper towels and magazines?
Yes, I do understand that used paper towels are not recyclable, they do use bleach in their manufacture, and they do consume wood pulp. All that aside, if we took the sum total of all the paper towels used and filled the state of Texas with the waste, the impact of the waste in ten years is nil compared to the run-off from synthetically fertilized crops that fuel most of our bascarts, not to mention the toxins used in the processing of the foods most of us eat.
Then there's the air emissions from our fossil fuels -- not one question in the calculator touched on how it isn't just our gas mileage in our cars, but the industrial consumption of fuels to operate our utilities, and our factories.
By the way, did anyone happen to catch the headlines that the fracking in our northern states turns out to be releasing even greater carbon-dioxides than the use of the fuels themselves?
No, none of that comes up on Mr or Ms Average American's news -- you have to go look for it.
And, why is that, for heaven's sake? With our planet facing a grave future from our environmental practices, why isn't every news media source providing information on what can be done? Where is our leadership?
Oh, right -- our leadership is controlled by lobbyists that represent those that are poisoning that very same environment. Wouldn't want that information to become too public.
Sigh.
Meanwhile, we forego making a pot of coffee so we can have a fresh brewed single serving from our K-cups (that are not recyclable), and check our iphones (filled with toxins that are only marginally recyclable), and check fox news (which is paid advertising), on our way to our office in our fuel efficient (really?) car with a green leaf on its rearend -- all by ourselves.
Total Comments 2
Comments
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I live in Colorado and they just started the FRACKING process,, we are moving. This is depressing. Now everyone complains and is too lazy to pick up a newspaper and write to congress or senators. Pisses me off.Posted 02-15-2012 at 07:56 PM by happyup
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Too many people see themselves as victims, and do not see that they can make their voices heard. There are so many tools available to us, now that we have the internet. I email my congress person regularly to thank them, or share with them my opinions. It matters.Posted 02-16-2012 at 02:43 PM by LookinForMayberry
