While on Facebook the other day, I came across a Status Post that has been circulating around several feeds regarding "the pollution blame game" on previous generations. This post has been around for a few years at least but it is just as pertinent now.
Whether it's a real account of events - it's not here or there. It most certainly gets the point across on how some of today's generation blames the current horrible #CarbonFootprint problem on the previous generations.
"Checking out at the supermarket recently, the young cashier suggested I should bring my own bags because plastic bags weren’t good for the environment. I apologized and explained, “We didn’t have this green thing back in my earlier days“. The clerk responded, “That’s our problem today. Your generation did not care enough to save our environment for future generations“. She was right about one thing–our generation didn’t have the green thing in “Our” day. So what did we have back then? After some reflection and soul-searching on “Our” day, here’s what I remembered we did have…. Back then, we returned milk bottles, pop bottles and beer bottles to the store. The store sent them back to the plant to be washed and sterilized and refilled, so it could use the same bottles repeatedly. So they really were recycled. But we didn’t have the green thing back in our day. We walked up stairs, because we didn’t have an escalator in every store and office building. We walked to the grocery store and didn’t climb into a 300-horsepower machine every time we had to go two blocks. But she was right. We didn’t have the green thing in our day. Back then, we washed the baby’s nappies because we didn’t have the throw-away kind. We dried clothes on a line, not in an energy gobbling machine burning up 240 volts — wind and solar power really did dry our clothes back in our early days. Kids got hand-me-down clothes from their brothers or sisters, not always brand-new clothing. But that young lady is right. We didn’t have the green thing back in our day. Back then, we had one TV, or radio, in the house — not a TV in every room. And the TV had a small screen the size of a handkerchief (remember them?), not a screen the size of Wales. In the kitchen, we blended & stirred by hand because we didn’t have electric machines to do everything for us. When we packaged a fragile item to send in the mail, we used wadded up old newspapers to cushion it, not Styrofoam or plastic bubble wrap. Back then, we didn’t fire up an engine and burn petrol just to cut the lawn. We used a push mower that ran on human power. We exercised by working so we didn’t need to go to a health club to run on treadmills that operate on electricity. But she’s right. We didn’t have the green thing back then. We drank from a water fountain when we were thirsty instead of using a cup or a plastic bottle every time we had a drink of water. We refilled writing pens with ink instead of buying a new pen, and we replaced the razor blades in a razor instead of throwing away the whole razor just because the blade got dull. But we didn’t have the green thing back then. Back then, people took the bus, and kids rode their bikes to school or walked instead of turning their mum's into a 24-hour taxi service. We had one electrical outlet in a room, not an entire bank of sockets to power a dozen appliances. And we didn’t need a computerized gadget to receive a signal beamed from satellites 2,000 miles out in space in order to find the nearest pizza joint. But isn’t it sad the current generation laments how wasteful we old folks were just because we didn’t have the green thing back then? Please post this on your Facebook profile so another selfish old person who needs a lesson in conservation from a smarty-pants young person can add to this."
I was impressed with how this was written and wanted to share it. The biggest explosion of the problem was mainly during my generation. Sure, previous generations had contributing factors like the use of lead in everyday products and the development of the atomic bomb... but, there was a far less contributing factor than what has been contributed to the destruction of the #environment over the last 40 years. We took the ball and sped it to an almost unstoppable pace and now, its everyone's problem. Yes, I said it...EVERYONE.
And, most certainly, that includes myself. I try and practice proper recycling sorting but through laziness or misunderstanding or sheer aggravation, I put my non-rinsed pasta sauce container in the Blue Bin but, in so doing, this container cannot now be recycled due to food contamination.
According to a 2016 report, Beyond the Blue Box: Ontario's Fresh Start on Waste Diversion and the Circular Economy, authored by Dianne Saxe, former environmental commissioner of Ontario, only 9% of Canada's plastic waste is #recycled. Not only is this due to improper recycling practices by Canadians but it is more importantly due to huge inefficiencies in Canada's recycling program and it's depots. This report is quite a fascinating read and covers the current problems, the history of recycling in Ontario, problems with the Waste Diversion Act, and more importantly, a new plan of action.
What happens to the 91% of the un-recyclable waste? Landfills, incineration or ending up in the oceans. This is unacceptable and this can only be resolved by everyone doing their part. Unfortunately, we are only at the state of awareness and nowhere near the stage of resolution. For every one step we seem to take to reduce the waste, there are a hundred tenfold that are new contributors to the problem. This disposable age that we live in needs to be drastically assessed and a #global commitment to change is desperately required. Each and every one of us needs to change our ways. At least, that's my point of vue!
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