"Or let’s talk waste. In 2005, per-capita municipal waste production (basically everything that’s put out at the curb) in the U.S. was about 1,660 pounds. Let’s say you’re a die-hard simple-living activist, and you reduce this to zero. You recycle everything. You bring cloth bags shopping. You fix your toaster. Your toes poke out of old tennis shoes. You’re not done yet, though. Since municipal waste includes not just residential waste, but also waste from government offices and businesses, you march to those offices, waste reduction pamphlets in hand, and convince them to cut down on their waste enough to eliminate your share of it. Uh, I’ve got some bad news. Municipal waste accounts for only 3 percent of total waste production in the United States." - D. Jensen
Wow! THREE PERCENT!!! That means that all those people who recycle everything and think their helping the environment aren't actually doing really anything! I mean, they're helping to bring the waste in the U.S. by three percent, but that really barely makes a difference. Instead, they should talk to those who do make a big difference and try to get them to change the way they use their waste. Then they could worry about their own stuff. I'm glad Derrick Jensen decided to write about this.
I wonder how much waste would be left over if those big companies and just the normal people cut it all down to zero. I mean, I'm guessing there are other sources of waste, and I'm guessing what they are and how much they put out there. That doesn't matter, though, because I extremely highly doubt everyone will cut their waste down, especially down to
zero. People don't need to worry about their own garbage quite so much, for it doesn't make much of a difference.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment