How to stop killing the earth
First published on August 30, 2006
I’m becoming more and more of an environmentalist every day. Today I discovered that Wendy’s salads come in recyclable containers, but Wendy’s doesn’t have a recycling receptacle for the containers. So I took the containers home to recycle so that they wouldn’t end up in the garbage. Next I’ll have to come up with a plan to get Wendy’s to do something about this. I don’t want to pick on just Wendy’s, but wow, they are awful with this stuff. Plastic spoons and forks in individually plastic wrappers, heaters blaring on a summer day…
(Update: a reader pointed out correctly that I unfairly singled out Wendy’s. The other fast food chains are no better.)
Let’s actually take action. Let’s stop being ignorant just because it’s easier to do.
Humans seem to have a natural inclination to destroy themselves, others, and the planet (co2 emissions? smoking? greed?). Is it because of willful ignorance? A mentality of “out of sight, out of mind”? Well, whether you need monetary, ethical, or purely social reasons for being more environmentally aware, the rewards are all there.
Here are some simple things you can do to have a “greener” house.
Recycling
Plastics are a tricky issue. Apparently those recycling codes don’t necessarily mean that your municipality will recycle that type of plastic. Luckily, though, mine accepts all codes of plastic (1 through 7). Also, shrink wraps on CDs and other such media can be recycled (they fall under code 4)!
Water
Try not to care so much about your lawn unless you’re trying to play a baseball game on it… or try not to wash your car so often (heck, wait for it to rain, then head out and scrub!) — in the summer, water usage can account for 40% of total water use (source)
I’m not sure where this post is going. Maybe it’ll slowly evolve.
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August 30th, 2006 at 11:42 pm
Melissa says:
Yes! Everyone who can should try to go see “An Inconvenient Truth” too. Or at least check out the evidence that really does confirm that global warming/climate change is our fault and we can do something to fix it!
http://www.climatecrisis.net/thescience/
August 31st, 2006 at 8:22 am
Julia says:
Deep post.
That’s so ironic at Wendys.
As bad as were are at recylcing etc, I think lots of other countries are even worse which is scary!
August 31st, 2006 at 5:35 pm
Thom says:
And you didn’t even mention the pollution resulting from the ingestion of Wendy’s chili :S But seriously, I’m for edible cutlery like in the medieval times. Can anyone say bread bowl?
November 27th, 2006 at 7:35 am
JO` says:
dude its not just Wendy’s. Mickey D’s and Bk both throw a lot of stuff away! They don’t have recycling recepticals either. so think more before bashing just one frachise.