Siteadmin, Check users, Administrators
6,631
edits
Changes
Essay: Real Environmentalism (view source)
Revision as of 02:20, March 2, 2011
, 02:20, March 2, 2011no edit summary
===Litter Cleanup===
===Litter Cleanup===
It seems fitting to list litter cleanup first. This is a common, easy activity (who hasn’t cleaned up litter at a local park?) but it is by no means unimportant. It is true that cleaning up litter can only go so far – as far as the discrete community in which it is done. But is that not one less plastic bottle that will end up buried in the ground for centuries to come? And perhaps aggressive litter cleanup could actually have an effect outside the local community. The infamous “Great Pacific Garbage Patch” would undoubtedly be smaller if less litter were able to make its way to ocean-bound waterways.
It seems fitting to list litter cleanup first. This is a common, easy activity (who hasn’t cleaned up litter at a local park?) but it is by no means unimportant. It is true that cleaning up litter can only go so far – as far as the discrete community in which it is done. But is that not one less plastic bottle that will end up buried in the ground for centuries to come? And perhaps aggressive litter cleanup could actually have an effect outside the local community. The infamous “Great Pacific Garbage Patch” would undoubtedly be smaller if less litter were able to make its way to ocean-bound waterways.
===Waste Reduction / Excessive Consumerism===
Who hasn’t driven through some wealthy town on garbage day and spotted a new-looking sofa, TV, lawn machine, piece of furniture? It looks like the stuff you buy, only it’s being thrown out? And where does it go? Either in the ground, or to China<ref>Electronic waste is often shipped to China to be "recycled," i.e. crudely smashed, burned, or otherwise dangerously broken down by workers. One village in China has become known as an "e-waste village" because it is a major center of this primitive recycling business</ref>. All of these perfectly good items end up useless, dumped in a landfill or scrapped for parts. And yet, they could be donated, even sold, to those in need. Thus, the issue of waste reduction is not only environmental (wasted resources) but social (reduces supply of cheap used items for the disadvantaged). There should be a powerful Christian motivation here to reduce consumerism, or at least to reduce the amount of waste that ends up in the landfill.
===Composting===
Composting is not talked about a whole lot, even by environmentalists. Perhaps this is because few people enjoy spending time with their garbage (which is understandable).
==References==
==References==