Every day now, without fail, information seeps into my head about how much worse everything is in comparison to the past. Sex. Drugs. Violence. Global Warming. It is everywhere. But, is anybody doing anything about it? If I had to take a guess, it would be no. Not even a chance.
As an example, let us take into consideration of the waste we produce. Landfills, I have heard about this growing problem since being in the third or fourth grade (over a decade ago). There is a lot of talk on this subject every year and I am sure each person has seen the iconic recycle symbol everyday of their lives, but a majority of us still do not recycle. Personally, I would of started several years ago, if I would of known that it takes about five minutes to call ‘Waste Management’ and order a free recycling bin. Here are four of fifteen facts about waste from The Daily Green:
- Forests store 50% of the world’s terrestrial carbon. (In other words, they are awfully important “carbon sinks” that hold onto pollution that would otherwise lead to global warming.)
- Half the world’s forests have already been cleared or burned, and 80% of what’s left has been seriously degraded.
- 42% of the industrial wood harvest is used to make paper.
- The paper industry is the 4th largest contributor to greenhouse gas emissions among United States manufacturing industries, and contributes 9% of the manufacturing sector’s carbon emissions.
- Paper accounts for 25% of landfill waste (and one third of municipal landfill waste).
However, on the good side the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) reports that “in 2006, the national recycling rate of 32.5 percent (82 million tons recycled) prevented the release of approximately 49.7 million metric tons of carbon into the air–roughly the amount emitted annually by 39 million cars, or 1,300 trillion BTUs, saving energy equivalent to 10 billion gallons of gasoline.” This is an increase of the eight percent we had in 1990, but it just illuminates that only a small percentage of the population are making a serious effort towards fixing an issue that they are reminded about every day. There is a video created by Jorge Furtado called “Ilhas das Flores”. It can be found translated on YouTube.
If you would like to take action, find a problem and fix it. And there most certainly will always be problems, but that is no justification for no action. The best thing you can do for your environment is care. Care by recycling, reusing, and using your purchasing power to push the market towards a healthier future. More specific actions can be found at Zero Waste America.
