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Throw away attitude
"garden-addicted" wrote in message ... I would like to hear people opinion on the following. Its my view that reducing our personal fossil fuel usage and recycling is not the most important thing to helping our environment. It is in fact our attitude on constantly trying to save money all the time. We now have a cheap throwaway culture. We now expect everything to be cheap and then when it breaks of fails we are not surprised. Most of these goods come from Asia. Which is now the highest pollutant in the world. Once we expected a product to last, yes it did cost more but it lasted. I have members of my family that are happy to buy a pair of cheap secateurs for less than £10, use for a season and then throw them away, instead of looking after a good paid for their entire life. Its worse with electrical goods. The cheaper we can get them the better!! Yes we buy a cheap unbranded strimmer from our local DIY store and after one or two years it gets thrown away. Did we need the strimmer in the first pace? Couldn't we have spent a little more on something that was made in regulated Europe and will maybe last longer? Cheaper is always at a cost! I am shocked at the amount of toys my children have this year and the amount that are never going to be used. Cheap plastic toys that have taken energy and world resources to produce for absolutely no reason. After 2 years of not being used these are going to go into the bin, and yes they are plastic so will not be recycled. Flights for £5? Another example of our current attitude. Maybe there should be a £50 environmental charge on top of this. Every time we fly a few trees are planted. We always want to do as we like regardless of the cost to the environment, but are we happier than previous generations that didn't. I don't believe we are. this is part of the problem, and part of the solution I will grant you. Its a wholistic approach however that makes the big difference. For example - George W has suddenly discovered global warming and speaks of converting more corn to ethanol. Less greenhouse gases he reckons. Problem is, food is being processed in to gas. Food is needed to feed people, it also takes all manner of inputs to grow. Is it a viable option? Sure, greenhouse gases may be reduced but are the enviro costs simply being transfered elsewhere. Some people say why should small countries make an effort with global warming when George W just sat on his hands. Answer, because every bit people do goes toward solving problems. If George doesn't give a shit and I don't give a shit then we are likely in shit. I agree that we consume too much useless shit and too much useless shit that breaks down quickly. The answer lies I think in the simple mantra reuse, reduce, recycle. Recycle comes at the end of reuse and reduce. Reuse comes first. If we use something once can we use it over again, and again, and again. If not, can we reduce what we consume. Only after those 2 questions should we look at recycling. I wore through the butt of a pair of short I wear around home and walking the mutts. I could go to the local dept store and but a $20 pair made in China. Why however, when there are pairs already made in second hand stores. For 3/4 of the price of a new pair I got 3 pairs including some dress shorts and 2 mucking around at home pairs. Same goes for shoes, $90 new or $8 second hand and some shoe polish. I draw a line at gruts and socks and some gear I need for work. Our microwave stuffed up after 10 years service. We did buy a new one but gave the old one away to a joker who could rig a temporary fix and use it for a few months. Other used gear has gone the same way to people who can use it over again. Plastic bags in shops, no thanks. I will reduce there. If I get bags they get recycled picking up dog poop. The poop goes under the hedge, the bags go in the bin. If something with metal parts breaks down and can't be repaired it gets taken apart and the metal taken to a local scrap dealer on my way to work. I may sound like a smug preachy *******, thats not my intention if so. I still pollute the atmosphere with my car and flush stuff down the sewer the earth probably wishes I didn't. Point being however we can make differences in small ways, they all add up. A line from a Sting song written 22 years ago now sums it up for me "forever conditioned to believe that we can't live here and be happy with less". rob |
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