April 17, 2008 | Being Green, Lifestyle
Did you know that Americans spend more on trash bags than the next 7 highly developed nations spend on, well, everything? Or that the US spends more on trash bags than the gross national product of 90 of the nations in the world? Those are staggering statistics.
What is it that generates so much trash? Rampant consumerism. Keeping up with the Joneses. Over-packaging of products. A need for the newest, trendiest products. The green-eyed monster. A reluctance to reuse and repurpose. The idea that more stuff translates to success. And these very same ideas are what saddles the American consumer with an average of $8,000 in credit card debt. It’s not good for our planet, nor is it good for our communities’ well-being.
But this is just what the green movement is all about. Reducing waste. Reducing your footprint on the planet. And while some of the ‘green’ products cost more up front, many of them bring long-term savings (like compact fluorescent bulbs which reduce energy costs and last much longer than regular bulbs). But an even loftier goal of the green movement is to consume less stuff. Use the library instead of buying books, drive fewer miles, repurpose instead of replace, reuse instead of discard.
Think about it. We consume so much and create so much waste that our spending on trash bags alone exceeds the total wealth of over a third of the world’s nations. As we near Earth Day, think twice about the purchases you make. Think hard about the things you discard. It’s not just about recycling - though recycling is better than trashing. It goes beyond that into harnessing our need for stuff, and specifically harnessing our need for newer, better, brighter, bigger, trendier, fancier stuff.
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nick says:
hi nice post, i enjoyed it
April 18th, 2008 at 3:03 pm