Today is Earth Day, 2018. Did you know that we have former President Nixon* and the 1970 Congress to thank for the original Earth day? They also created the Environmental Protection Agency that same year.
The focus this year is plastics, specifically ending plastics pollution:
One small step suggested-- give up plastic drinking straws. (Actually, this will be a huge step for me. My grandchildren have actually accused me of owning my own straw manufacturing plant. 😞)
Our consumption of plastic straws in the United States alone equals enough straws to wrap around the earth's circumference 2.5 times a day. We are smothering the planet.
I recycle and compost religiously but I can do better, especially as I grocery shop and sip my fruit smoothies.
* Good to be reminded these days that no one is all bad, so thank-you Richard Nixon.
The focus this year is plastics, specifically ending plastics pollution:
From poisoning and injuring marine life to the ubiquitous presence of plastics in our food to disrupting human hormones and causing major life-threatening diseases and early puberty, the exponential growth of plastics is threatening our planet’s survival.
One small step suggested-- give up plastic drinking straws. (Actually, this will be a huge step for me. My grandchildren have actually accused me of owning my own straw manufacturing plant. 😞)
Our consumption of plastic straws in the United States alone equals enough straws to wrap around the earth's circumference 2.5 times a day. We are smothering the planet.
I recycle and compost religiously but I can do better, especially as I grocery shop and sip my fruit smoothies.
* Good to be reminded these days that no one is all bad, so thank-you Richard Nixon.
I hardly use straws but from what I've read there are a whole lot of people that do. Do reusable straws make sense? Maybe back to paper straws of my childhood malt drinks. I guess they weren't really just paper. Think Tank time.
ReplyDeleteI rarely use straws, except from fast food restaurants. I do have a package of them in my home as my daughetr likes them.
ReplyDeleteWe certainly do have a unhealthy reliance on plastic. Mine is plastic shopping bags, as I use them for garbage and dirty kitty litter. But the stuff has to go somewhere.
Happy Earthy Day!
Eileen
The stadium switched to paper straws this year. It first they were flimsy, but today we noticed that they had been beefed up and were sturdy. It's a step. We don't use straws at all at home, and not that often when we go out. I think I could get by without them. Maybe I can request "No straw" at restaurants and see what happens.
ReplyDeleteAmazed that it has been affect for so long and we have not really made a lot of progress. I was going to say I never use straws but Linda R reminded me about the ones in restaurants that I always use. I will now refuse them. Thanks.
ReplyDeleteA visiting friend put me to shame by refusing the plastic straws when we ate out...so now doing the myself! Earth Day is every day.
ReplyDeleteThe typical American celebration of Earth Day has always struck me like Vito Corleone going to mass. Pack the family into a 400 horse power SUV, drive half way across town to the Earth Day jamboree, listen to some bad blue grass music, let the kids get their faces painted, buy some truly retched food served with plastic straws no doubt, get a seedling to plant in the yard, then come home and pat oneself on the back for having done a good deed for the environment. Well it is good that there is a day for the awareness of the environment, but I wished that translated into positive action.
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