As of the 20th of January our country has a new president. I have no intention of going on a political rant in this post, my focus is more on what this means for the environment. First and foremost, any new enviromental policies or initiatives will be a huge step forward from anything that has happened under the last president. So regardless of the scope of what President Obama wants to accomplish, it most certainly be an improvement.
Here is a pdf file from the president's website that outlines what they propose to do: Environmental Plan. One thing that I will say is that at least this information is much more readily available for all of us now. Maybe I will start a check-list and check things off as they get done, though I imagine it would be quite a while till I'd even get to mark one off. These things take time.
What I hope will make a bigger impact is the way this guy speaks. Big government ideas and policies take a lot of time, have to go over tons of hurdles, and rarely come out in the end as the same way they went in. Every time Barack mentions the environment, or alternate energy, or rambles on about everyone doing their part, hopefully it inspires some people. Perhaps it will compel some influential people to make some big changes. The results of which I believe can make a huge difference. We live in a world where we all have to share the blame for what we do to our planet; from the byproducts of our manufacturing, to the fossil fuels we iginite so often, and to the ecosystems we devastate on a regular basis.
By this point we have all heard the speeches that emphasize "we" and how everyone has to work together. So let's hope people listen, because every alternate energy car we purchase, every solar panel we plop on the roof of our homes, every plastic bag we don't take just keeps us moving in the right direction.
In lieu of the recent activity among the Big 3 automakers to fly private jets to washington to beg for money, it has got me thinking of all of the hubbub over the past years about environmentally friendly automobiles and why we should be buying them and making them. I was going to make a post about the word hubbub actually being in the dictionary (which is strikingly fascinating), well at least the online dictionary, but i couldn't make a connection that would relate to the environment, so i just used the word in this post and now i will go back to my point.
I think we can clearly say we are in a green auto industry mindset, yes yes, not every car on the road, or even the majority of them, are green friendly, but it is on everyone's mind. The most common thing i am hearing about a big part of these american auto companies failing is that they are "making the wrong cars". Which ends up being followed up with explaining what the right cars are and aren't. The general consensus is that the right cars are fuel efficient gas driven cars, fuel efficient hybrid cars, or alternate energy cars. The wrong cars are this. And if you require a more detailed explanation, then it would be vehicles that use a ton of gas, are way too big, or (as not shown in the picture) are gas guzzling sports cars. Now i know we still need trucks for industry, and most people agree that making trucks, semi's, and large equipment "green" and accessible matters too, but we are making progress.
So anyway, where i am going with this is that finally the industry has changed in everyones minds. And that change is what will fuel the industry moving forward. Now the rants and raves on some random blog or even a website that sells wicked awesome canvas bags may have help educate people, but, the real voice that ended up being heard was by which cars people bought. And at the end of the day I think that it helps open everyone's eyes to what makes industry go green, and it is based on what sells. So when we shop green we send a message, and when we don't buy planet killing crap, it sends the same message. Which is a message that i think is making a difference and will continue to make a difference for the not so distant, and the distant future.
I've always thought that the best way to get people to protect the environment is to come up with ideas that are convenient and mutually beneficial. I believe it is very idealistic to believe that everyone is going to increase their environmental awareness just out of the kindness of their heart. So when an idea comes along like GreenPrint, it peaks my interest. GreenPrint is a software that reduces the amount of paper that we waste in printing by allowing us to eliminate that pesky extra page that always seems to print out from internet sites that has 1 line of text. Technically, there is a lot more to the software then that. More specifically, the software essentially is a print previewer that allows you to edit one last time before you print. You can remove legal jargon from something you are printing, consolidate pages, and even use it to create PDF files. The main benefit though is that in printing less you will save paper and ink, and more importantly the environment. And as you have probably guessed… saving paper and ink means you will save money as well, which is something the software tracks for you. There is a free version of the software available. So give it a shot and spread the word.
While doing a bit of unrelated research today I inadvertently discovered our sites arch nemesis! Behold - Save the Plastic Bag.com, a classic case of becoming so caught up in the details and losing the big picture. To be as fair and unbiased as I can be, their site does make quite a few valid points against the use of paper bags instead of plastic. They mention the Times Online article and the often used figures linking plastic bags and marine animal deaths that have since been proven false. As well as highlighting the problems inherent with government regulated solutions.
Their focus needs to be broadened a bit too see the real issue at hand. Since the advent of mass production and plastics, we have been living in a disposable society. Whether it's our product packaging, batteries, food containers, or the shopping bags that we carry them in; our culture is based on a system that generates entirely too much trash. We need to take a close look at the life cycle of all our products and make the appropriate changes to reduce waste. That introspection has to start somewhere, and why not with plastic bags?
Aside from promoting re-useable canvas bags, we here at PlasticBagsAreTheDevil.com are constantly looking for other environmental causes that we can post here and spread the word about. The most recent one we have found is a website called GreenDimes.com. They are an organization/charity that will remove you from most junk mail lists and plant five trees for you every month. All for less than the cost of a coffee per month. Aside from the personal benefit of not getting spammed with tons of crap in your mailbox. This also saves tons of trees since your average junk mailer contains at least half a dozen sheets of paper plus an envelope. And your average junk mailer most likely isn't using the most environmentally sensitive paper.
So how does it work? Well you sign up with your name and address, and then their service will handle getting your name removed from most junk mailers. It takes about 8 weeks or so to start seeing considerably less junk mail. And they actually have in house customer service, so you can change your address or add another address or make sure certain catalogs still get delivered to you without too much hassle.
The tree planting is arguably and even better benefit than the lack of junk in your mailbox. Depending on the service you sign up for, they will plant trees in your name monthly. It's a direct way to counteract the amount of trees cut down to produce paper. It's definitely something worth checking out. If anyone knows of another service like this then feel free to contact us and we will try to spread the word.
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By the numbers:
- Conservative estimates show that the world uses at least 500 billion plastic bags a year
- Standard polyethylene bags take between 500 and a 1000 years to completely decompose in a capped landfill
- Plastic bags make up nearly 10% of the litter found on beaches
- Only one in twenty bags is recycled
