I have something to admit. I think Earth Day is dumb. It is one day out of 365 days that people might think about recycling. And they still don’t understand that recycling centers are open the other 364 days of the year.
I am one of those people who pick up empty plastic bottles alongside the road. Look at me crazy as you walk by, but maybe this planet needs more people to stop littering and start taking care of their environment. But that would take too much energy.
For personal amusement I went to see what students had planned for Earth Day. I found a few tables, and only a few students. Bloomsburg University has about 8,000 students. I thought the participation would have been higher.
The one incident that caught my attention the most, was this one guy who was engrossed in the ‘save our earth’ posters. I watched Mr. I-did-my-good- deed-for-the-day walk away. He threw a plastic bottle in the trash, which was right next to the recycling bin. I wonder what his excuse was. Maybe he didn’t understand English. But the poster was mostly pictures.
Later in the day, something else made me shake my head. Members of BU's Global Awareness Society International had handcrafted tote bags available in exchange for plastic shopping bags. Well ladies of BU, the totes are eco-friendly shopping bags, not purses. Some people just don’t get it.
It is not only students that don’t care. Up until last month my family burned most of our trash. In order to get them to recycle, I pick it up once every other week. With my trunk full of recycling, from newspapers to empty juice bottles, I venture to the Bloomsburg Recycling Center.
Today while I was unloading, I looked around. There was only one other vehicle there. One. And the couple only had a small laundry basket of plastics. That basket contained about a tenth of the plastics in the over heaping trashcan next to Staples I saw that same day. The planet is in need of much more than that one laundry basket full, maybe a few million more.
No one is perfect. I know that. But everyone could at least try to do a part of the work. I realize that I can rant and rave all that I want too, without getting anyone to listen. If anything, try to use this bit of non-threatening advice:
1. Locate a recycling center near your home/work/ school, and try to drop recycling off when you pass by it, or are heading in that direction. Plan to leave 5 minutes earlier. That is all it takes (http://www.therecyclingcenter.info/).
2. Use eco-friendly shopping bags instead of plastic bags. Most grocery stores sell them for a low cost, and other chain stores are catching on. Keep them in your trunk. They don’t take up space and they help the environment.
3. Try to plan out your trips, make one productive trip instead of five separate ones. This will help put less carbon dioxide and other chemicals into the atmosphere and save you gas (not to mention money!).
4. Use a reusable water bottle. According to earth911.com, there are 35 billion water bottles in landfills. This is because Americans recycle only 23% of all the plastic water bottles used! At almost any store you could find a reusable one for little cost!
I am one of those people who pick up empty plastic bottles alongside the road. Look at me crazy as you walk by, but maybe this planet needs more people to stop littering and start taking care of their environment. But that would take too much energy.
For personal amusement I went to see what students had planned for Earth Day. I found a few tables, and only a few students. Bloomsburg University has about 8,000 students. I thought the participation would have been higher.
The one incident that caught my attention the most, was this one guy who was engrossed in the ‘save our earth’ posters. I watched Mr. I-did-my-good- deed-for-the-day walk away. He threw a plastic bottle in the trash, which was right next to the recycling bin. I wonder what his excuse was. Maybe he didn’t understand English. But the poster was mostly pictures.
Later in the day, something else made me shake my head. Members of BU's Global Awareness Society International had handcrafted tote bags available in exchange for plastic shopping bags. Well ladies of BU, the totes are eco-friendly shopping bags, not purses. Some people just don’t get it.
It is not only students that don’t care. Up until last month my family burned most of our trash. In order to get them to recycle, I pick it up once every other week. With my trunk full of recycling, from newspapers to empty juice bottles, I venture to the Bloomsburg Recycling Center.
Today while I was unloading, I looked around. There was only one other vehicle there. One. And the couple only had a small laundry basket of plastics. That basket contained about a tenth of the plastics in the over heaping trashcan next to Staples I saw that same day. The planet is in need of much more than that one laundry basket full, maybe a few million more.
No one is perfect. I know that. But everyone could at least try to do a part of the work. I realize that I can rant and rave all that I want too, without getting anyone to listen. If anything, try to use this bit of non-threatening advice:
1. Locate a recycling center near your home/work/ school, and try to drop recycling off when you pass by it, or are heading in that direction. Plan to leave 5 minutes earlier. That is all it takes (http://www.therecyclingcenter.info/).
2. Use eco-friendly shopping bags instead of plastic bags. Most grocery stores sell them for a low cost, and other chain stores are catching on. Keep them in your trunk. They don’t take up space and they help the environment.
3. Try to plan out your trips, make one productive trip instead of five separate ones. This will help put less carbon dioxide and other chemicals into the atmosphere and save you gas (not to mention money!).
4. Use a reusable water bottle. According to earth911.com, there are 35 billion water bottles in landfills. This is because Americans recycle only 23% of all the plastic water bottles used! At almost any store you could find a reusable one for little cost!
-Afraid your tap water isn’t clean? Purchase a Brita Water Filter Pitcher . Even though the costs vary, think about all the money you spend on bottled water throughout the year and how much you will save.
That all sounds very Oprah-ish, I know, but it is something everyone can do. It takes a little more energy, but there are no excuses.
The earth is on a downward spiral. Humans are the ruination of it. The smartest beings on earth can just as well be the dumbest. Earth Day at Bloomsburg University helped prove that fact.
Sometimes we have to look beyond our own daily social life to find what is really happening in the world. Bloomsburg is a small town, just a piece to the puzzle of environmental conservation.
For more information visit: http://brita.com/, or to find a recycling center in your area visit http://www.therecyclingcenter.info/
That all sounds very Oprah-ish, I know, but it is something everyone can do. It takes a little more energy, but there are no excuses.
The earth is on a downward spiral. Humans are the ruination of it. The smartest beings on earth can just as well be the dumbest. Earth Day at Bloomsburg University helped prove that fact.
Sometimes we have to look beyond our own daily social life to find what is really happening in the world. Bloomsburg is a small town, just a piece to the puzzle of environmental conservation.
For more information visit: http://brita.com/, or to find a recycling center in your area visit http://www.therecyclingcenter.info/
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