This truly is the land of wastefulness - over-sized food portions in restaurants which must regularly result in plate loads of food being thrown away; over-zealous irrigation as garden sprinklers merrily water the pavement; over-cold air conditioning units which make you want to put your coat on to go into a building and take it off when you come out, and giant sized household appliances that wantonly consume vast amounts of energy.
Despite living in a compact city center apartment I have a stove large enough to roast a complete medieval banquet. Often I only switch it on to heat up a loaf of garlic bread. Whilst it does toast up the whole apartment quite nicely, I then have to put the air-con on to prevent the family expiring from heat exhaustion. I also have an industrial sized washing machine which spins with such gratuitous violence it regularly destroys my clothes - it's so big that an entire week's worth of laundry only constitutes a half load. The same can be said for my tumble dryer, and of course, here in California it rarely rains so it's ideal outdoor drying weather but there's not a clothes line in sight. It's all so unnecessary. And what is so wrong with "small"? It's almost a dirty word.
The vast majority of US politicians will have you believe that diminishing world resources and nasty rumours about global warming are pure mythology. There's certainly no need for us to worry our pretty little heads about it. There’s enough fuel left in the world to keep those gas guzzling SUV’s going for a good few years yet and enough by-products being created to enable check-out assistants at Ralphs to continue to pack one item of groceries per plastic bag guilt free.
The vast majority of US politicians will have you believe that diminishing world resources and nasty rumours about global warming are pure mythology. There's certainly no need for us to worry our pretty little heads about it. There’s enough fuel left in the world to keep those gas guzzling SUV’s going for a good few years yet and enough by-products being created to enable check-out assistants at Ralphs to continue to pack one item of groceries per plastic bag guilt free.
Economise? Conservation? Don't even think about. Just indulge.
This is a totally have-it-all and then throw it away, disposable society, and yet I still like to think I’m doing my bit to preserve the environment - regardless of unlimited resources. I don’t send all my trash down the convenient waste disposal chute at the end of my corridor. Instead I separate my rubbish into what’s recyclable and what’s not, although this does mean I have to manually take half my trash down into the bowels of the parking garage to the one recycling bin that caters for all 230 apartments.
At my local Ralphs there is actually a "re-cycling" centre where I could take all my glass and plastic bottles and receive a 5 cent return for each, proving perhaps that Americans are willing to re-cycle given a financial incentive. However, there is a whole industry here for the poor of Pasadena, who regularly scavenge the bins. I know if I put my bottles into the trash they will wend their way over to the recycling centre whatever, and some old tramp, far needier than me, will be a few dollars better off because of it.
This is a totally have-it-all and then throw it away, disposable society, and yet I still like to think I’m doing my bit to preserve the environment - regardless of unlimited resources. I don’t send all my trash down the convenient waste disposal chute at the end of my corridor. Instead I separate my rubbish into what’s recyclable and what’s not, although this does mean I have to manually take half my trash down into the bowels of the parking garage to the one recycling bin that caters for all 230 apartments.
At my local Ralphs there is actually a "re-cycling" centre where I could take all my glass and plastic bottles and receive a 5 cent return for each, proving perhaps that Americans are willing to re-cycle given a financial incentive. However, there is a whole industry here for the poor of Pasadena, who regularly scavenge the bins. I know if I put my bottles into the trash they will wend their way over to the recycling centre whatever, and some old tramp, far needier than me, will be a few dollars better off because of it.
The trouble with living here is that if you want to be "green" you have to go out of your way to do it. I have to drive to an organic grocery store; it is an "inconvenience" to recycle my rubbish, and knowing how Americans love that word "convenient" it's hardly the encouragement they need to join in. Time is precious over here and everyone is always in such a hurry - although I've yet to work out quite what for. The American lifestyle is not conducive to a social conscience.
I know I can't save the planet single-handedly, but at least I like to think I'm doing my best not to join the rush to totally ruin it.
No comments:
Post a Comment