BE ENVIRONMENTALLY CONSCIOUS.
BE ENVIRONMENTALLY AWARE.
BE ENVIRONMENTALLY FRIENDLY.
I say this because it's so important that all of us do our part.
Consider how much waste we produce in America alone.
Last year we produced a total of 250 million tons of MSW (Municipal Solid Waste), of that amount we recycled nearly 85 million tons, equivalent to a 34% recycling rate. (sr. http://www.epa.gov/wastes/nonhaz/municipal/pubs/msw_2010_factsheet.pdf)
Our ability to recycle is good, but not excellent. Most people do not feel there is much of an incentive to recycle, adding to a higher amount of waste that could be recycled, but is not.
So we have 165 million tons of waste that we add to landfills across the country every year. That's a lot!
Keep in mind that this "waste" is not material that can be disposed of without harming the environment.
** I will have more on this, and similar stories very soon.**
Wednesday, December 28, 2011
Environmental Ethics.
I want to take some time to discuss environmental ethics, with a primary focus on the United States.
It's very probable that this will lead to an entirely new blog, but until I am sure I want to commit myself to it I will begin with it here.
Ok, so let's begin.
I have always had an interest in so-called "green" technologies but had never really investigated them, or the various effects of pollution, until quite recently. In fact, I admit that I have almost been very opposed to "green" technologies for a couple of reasons, the first of which is because I have grown up around a social-environment that considers all proponents of "green" technologies as 'tree-huggers', to anyone familiar with that term it is generally regarded as a derogatory definition of an environmentally conscious person, yet has become degraded because most of these 'tree-huggers' are considered hypocrites.
Now I know what you're thinking... "how can he say something like that?", or perhaps "he's wrong!" Well I could be, however my personal experience which has been shaped through my interactions with these nature-loving folks speaks to the contrary. When I see someone driving a Prius, it is safe to assume that person is driving that particular vehicle not because he/she likes the shape, color, or design of the Prius's gauges, but because they enjoy the lack of emissions that exit themselves from the vehicle; they like the mpg. I can't blame them there, they are much 'healthier' to the everyday environment than my Nissan Titan is. But if you at what ingredients, and just how much of those ingredients are involved in the building stages of the Prius, one might reconsider.
See: http://www.ncpa.org/sub/dpd/index.php?Article_ID=14304 , http://www.ncpa.org/sub/dpd/index.php?Article_ID=14304
Maybe I have some sort of personal dislike for the term "tree-hugger" because those folks who defend trees from the vicious saw-blades of loggers are the same folks who use paper, and tree-related material everyday. However, on the same note there must be a level of understanding of "tree-huggers", I cannot judge them because they use tree-based products, considering we live in such a society, one cannot help it. There are extreme cases where some of them may reveal a sort of fanaticism; in which case I ignore them.
Anyway. I am becoming more environmentally conscious. You should too!
It's very probable that this will lead to an entirely new blog, but until I am sure I want to commit myself to it I will begin with it here.
Ok, so let's begin.
I have always had an interest in so-called "green" technologies but had never really investigated them, or the various effects of pollution, until quite recently. In fact, I admit that I have almost been very opposed to "green" technologies for a couple of reasons, the first of which is because I have grown up around a social-environment that considers all proponents of "green" technologies as 'tree-huggers', to anyone familiar with that term it is generally regarded as a derogatory definition of an environmentally conscious person, yet has become degraded because most of these 'tree-huggers' are considered hypocrites.
Now I know what you're thinking... "how can he say something like that?", or perhaps "he's wrong!" Well I could be, however my personal experience which has been shaped through my interactions with these nature-loving folks speaks to the contrary. When I see someone driving a Prius, it is safe to assume that person is driving that particular vehicle not because he/she likes the shape, color, or design of the Prius's gauges, but because they enjoy the lack of emissions that exit themselves from the vehicle; they like the mpg. I can't blame them there, they are much 'healthier' to the everyday environment than my Nissan Titan is. But if you at what ingredients, and just how much of those ingredients are involved in the building stages of the Prius, one might reconsider.
See: http://www.ncpa.org/sub/dpd/index.php?Article_ID=14304 , http://www.ncpa.org/sub/dpd/index.php?Article_ID=14304
Maybe I have some sort of personal dislike for the term "tree-hugger" because those folks who defend trees from the vicious saw-blades of loggers are the same folks who use paper, and tree-related material everyday. However, on the same note there must be a level of understanding of "tree-huggers", I cannot judge them because they use tree-based products, considering we live in such a society, one cannot help it. There are extreme cases where some of them may reveal a sort of fanaticism; in which case I ignore them.
Anyway. I am becoming more environmentally conscious. You should too!
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