In North America we live in a disposable society. Yes, we want to do our part to combat global warming, however, most of us do not want to change our way of living drastically. We can turn off the lights for an hour, get a green bag from our local grocery store and do other little things that help. That is good, however, it is really a band-aid solution to the problem. Every day we use disposable diapers, eat fast food with disposable packaging and dispose of an astonishing amount of trash every day. All this trash ends up in landfills. Some of it actually is thrown in fields, rivers, lakes, and the oceans. What is happening is that the little things we do to save our planet are off set by our way of life in the western world.
Take for instance, the electronics we dispose of every day. It is cheaper to throw it away as opposed to fixing it in most cases. We have countries in Asia that can’t keep up with our demand to consume more. In fact, we are bombarded with continuous advertisements that urge us to consume more and more. Our governments advise us to consume more. It is a paradox, however, that this has a negative impact on global warming and our planet. If our television is not working we throw it out and get a new one. Instead of repairing an old pair of shoes, we go and buy a new pair and throw the old ones out. That is the attitude for most of us in our society.
Amidst the looming food shortage crisis we throw food way every day in North America. Restaurants commonly throw food out at the end of the day. It is easier for them to throw it out than to donate it. Retail businesses constantly throw items in the garbage or large bins if it is not resalable at the store level. To them it is easier to throw it out rather than donate it. How can they promote being “GREEN” and on the other hand dispose of so much unneeded waste?
If you have any personal stories or opinions on this topic please post it here. We would love to hear about it. We need to keep businesses and individuals accountable for harming our environment recklessly.