Environmental Rant of the Year
CAUTION: Complaining ahead.
I think it all boils down to this: ARE PEOPLE REALLY THAT STUPID?
Item #1: I collect paper for recycling. It's amazing what little trash you have after you pull out all paper/product packaging, etc. When I have a paper sack full I take it by the local Lutheran church who have a collection bin in their parking lot. They get cash back from the recycling company---not a lot of money, but some and it's doing the right thing. Today when I drop my bag off I'm amazed to see in the bin not just paper but plastic tubs, like plastic file boxes and even a plastic shelf of some kind.
What kind of person dumps all this in and figures, oh yea, that's made of paper...???
I would have fished it out but I couldn't reach it and if I crawled into the damn thing it would look like I'm dumpster diving. *sigh*
Item #2: This past weekend I went with my local Baha'i group to do a road clean-up. It's one of those 'adopt-a-road' kind of thing. Everytime I've done it the verdict is that people who a) smoke, b) drink, and c) eat fast food are the only ones tossing trash out their car windows.
Do they really think this stuff biodegrades? Would they like to have it on their front lawns? (Most probably wouldn't care.) There's been times when I've been driving and the person in front of me tosses out a cigarette butt and I'm tempted to have a whole collection of butts with me so I can follow them and dump them on their car/door step/shoes. Would that make an impression?
Item #3: THIS IS THE BIG ONE
This past summer while I was in Texas, The Hubby sent me a photo of a tree in our yard. "Looks like it's dying," he tells me. Over the past few months MORE trees in the yard look like their dying. I racked my brain for a solution: called friends, neighbors, researched internet. Finally an answer came from our lawn service company: a weed-killer made by Dupont called Imprelis that they used back in the spring was pulled from the market over the summer and YES, IT KILLS TREES.
Here's one of my poor Spruces:
So here's my question: If I work for Dupont developing new deadly chemical cocktails and they're supposed to be used on people's lawns wouldn't I ask myself, "Will this harm anything else on the lawn---like TREES?"
Disclaimer for using weed-killer in the first place: I know, I know...I should've known better. For two years The Hubby and I swore off the lawn service for just this reason. We fertilized ourself with organic fertilizers. The weeds came back with a vengeance. We tried. We pulled. We dug. We lost. This job would have required a small army of migrant farm workers. And then where would we have placed the sub-standard housing for them? (I'm kidding...you know that, right?)
Our lawn service has informed us that they have filed a claim on our behalf with Dupont and according to information they sent us Dupont has a laundry list of things they're going to do to fix the problem. Like replace the trees. And pay for the trees. And blah, blah, blah. Can you actually replace a 40 foot spruce? I've got 5 of them damaged and numerous more pine trees with damaged top growth. What dollar figure would you put on all this? IS SOMEONE STUPID GOING TO LOSE THEIR JOB OVER THIS? I hope so.
I think it all boils down to this: ARE PEOPLE REALLY THAT STUPID?
Item #1: I collect paper for recycling. It's amazing what little trash you have after you pull out all paper/product packaging, etc. When I have a paper sack full I take it by the local Lutheran church who have a collection bin in their parking lot. They get cash back from the recycling company---not a lot of money, but some and it's doing the right thing. Today when I drop my bag off I'm amazed to see in the bin not just paper but plastic tubs, like plastic file boxes and even a plastic shelf of some kind.
What kind of person dumps all this in and figures, oh yea, that's made of paper...???
I would have fished it out but I couldn't reach it and if I crawled into the damn thing it would look like I'm dumpster diving. *sigh*
Item #2: This past weekend I went with my local Baha'i group to do a road clean-up. It's one of those 'adopt-a-road' kind of thing. Everytime I've done it the verdict is that people who a) smoke, b) drink, and c) eat fast food are the only ones tossing trash out their car windows.
Do they really think this stuff biodegrades? Would they like to have it on their front lawns? (Most probably wouldn't care.) There's been times when I've been driving and the person in front of me tosses out a cigarette butt and I'm tempted to have a whole collection of butts with me so I can follow them and dump them on their car/door step/shoes. Would that make an impression?
Item #3: THIS IS THE BIG ONE
This past summer while I was in Texas, The Hubby sent me a photo of a tree in our yard. "Looks like it's dying," he tells me. Over the past few months MORE trees in the yard look like their dying. I racked my brain for a solution: called friends, neighbors, researched internet. Finally an answer came from our lawn service company: a weed-killer made by Dupont called Imprelis that they used back in the spring was pulled from the market over the summer and YES, IT KILLS TREES.
Here's one of my poor Spruces:
So here's my question: If I work for Dupont developing new deadly chemical cocktails and they're supposed to be used on people's lawns wouldn't I ask myself, "Will this harm anything else on the lawn---like TREES?"
Disclaimer for using weed-killer in the first place: I know, I know...I should've known better. For two years The Hubby and I swore off the lawn service for just this reason. We fertilized ourself with organic fertilizers. The weeds came back with a vengeance. We tried. We pulled. We dug. We lost. This job would have required a small army of migrant farm workers. And then where would we have placed the sub-standard housing for them? (I'm kidding...you know that, right?)
Our lawn service has informed us that they have filed a claim on our behalf with Dupont and according to information they sent us Dupont has a laundry list of things they're going to do to fix the problem. Like replace the trees. And pay for the trees. And blah, blah, blah. Can you actually replace a 40 foot spruce? I've got 5 of them damaged and numerous more pine trees with damaged top growth. What dollar figure would you put on all this? IS SOMEONE STUPID GOING TO LOSE THEIR JOB OVER THIS? I hope so.