More On Plastic

I made a decision, more or less a resolution at the turn of the new year, to give up any beverage contained in a plastic bottle. The constant argument that recycling does more harm than good upsets me. Although slightly off topic, even if a recycling plant's carbon footprint was more detrimental than the chopping down of hundreds of acres of ancient forest, the electricity used to power one does not need to come from coal fire. There are so many ways to conduct a megawatt of electricity.... anyway, way off topic.

Christina made an inquiry to me the other day, as to what I would do about other plastic products, or how I would ultimately avoid the bottled beverage industry altogether. First off, I do not drink that much, so anytime I have a beer or drink at the bar, it would probably be in a glass bottle or from tap. Overall I am not too worried about it on that end. Secondly, plastic is not all bad, especially in fields like the medical field. It has done a TON for modern civilization when it comes to sanitation and medical practices. My B is that it is so widely abused. I see it everyday; someone buys a coke and does not see the impact of his action, especially when I see that plastic coke bottle carelessly thrown into the trash.

This is why the production of it sucks...




This is why throwing it all away sucks...




My friend Tommy, one of the biggest ball-busters I know, asked me if I wanted lumber jacks to lose their jobs. I told him no. Traditionally there has always been jobs for lumber jacks, however the capacity of the modern lumber industry causes too much damage to the earth. It would be different if it were just a couple of guys chopping down trees with axes to warm their houses, but that isn't how it is. There are huge machines chopping down acres of ancient forest for the benefit of the paper and plastic industry. What I want is for the natural pattern of all economies to take place and new jobs to become important. When one industry fails, another becomes abundant. This is a very basic principle of macro economics. What I am hoping to see over the next 10 years or so is a huge increase in the green job market. Schools, corporations and governments need to take steps and initiatives to create a new market of jobs to help the environment, not kill it. Anyway, it seems that I have gone off on another tangent.

To make my resolution more clear, I have given up plastic containers completely as I can help it. As stated before, plastic can do amazing things, even simple things like keeping our left-overs fresh. However it cannot be abused. It has been a VERY long time since I have used a plastic grocery bag. In fact, just recently I read that in Europe they launched a 33 cent tax on all plastic grocery bags, and the result was a 94% decline in its usage. (http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/02/world/europe/02bags.html?_r=1&hp=&pagewanted=all&oref=slogin)
Seriously, Wegmans reusable bags are a dollar. Five of them can be used for life. Anyway, I believe my point has been illustrated rather clearly.