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Everyone knows what a pet peeve is (but if English is not your first language, a peeve is a small but persistent complaint or dissatisfaction). Well, I want to share with you what my ENVIRONMENTAL pet peeves are, i.e. my Enviro-Peeves. Now we have a name for it! It sounds like fun, doesn't it? Maybe you will share YOUR enviro-peeves with the rest of us.
Here are some of the issues that float to the top for me:
* Problem: Store check-outs where if you buy even something as small as lip balm, they will put it in a double plastic bag without asking you whether you want a bag
Solution: The federal government imposes a stiff fine for (illegal) use of throw-away bags, and requires shopper to buy organic cloth bags (at a reasonable cost) if they have forgotten their own collection of organic cloth shopping bags
* Problem: When buying a dozen eggs, the self-proclaimed (and I believe them!) Free Range, Organic, Omega 3-rich eggs come in glossy or clear plastic, non-recycled containers, while the eggs in the beautiful recycled cardboard containers have no promise of any ethical behavior imprinted on the container, and could just as well have the words "Provided by tightly caged chickens that never saw sunlight or had a happy moment"
Solution: Require all supermarket packaging to be in (recycled) glass, metal, or paper / cardboard / natural fiber. That would guarantee all the eggs would be in environmentally sound containers as well. The chickens would sleep better, knowing their eggs were being properly packaged.
* Problem: People driving along and tossing their garbage out of the car window.
Solution: This is harder to solve. There will always be garbage, and at least for a while, there will be cars. Honestly, the best result may be a MADD-style public education campaign to change the image of garbage-tossing to be a highly negative image. That is what Mothers Against Drunk Driving and their public service messages, along with some other influences, did to the image of the falling-on-the-floor (or otherwise impaired) drunk. And now, drunk driving is way down... why can't we do the same to car garbage tossing, or to littering in general? Other car-garbage solutions that have occurred to me: seal all car windows to disallow access to the outside world; or, give all cars light-weight roof-mounted lasers to zap the tires of littering drivers, when observed by a good-citizen-driver. These alternative solutions have some flaws, but are attractive at times, nonetheless.
* Problem: Restaurants and other organizations that serve food, using non-compostable plastics for wrapping, take-out containers, tableware, and disposable cups and soup containers. These end up in landfill or in the ocean (see the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, for example), and gradually leach out their toxins
Solution: Through a combination of fees, incentives, and laws, push all organizations toward using compostable plastic replacements for things such as garbage bags and tableware, and even better, to wash dishes when possible, to provide recycled cardboard take-out containers (as Whole Food does), and to use ceramic, paper, or compostable "plastic" drinking vessels. Anyway, we should all stop eating out and shopping so much - sorry merchants, but it is true!
* Problem: A federal United States government that is a big part of the problem, not part of the solution
Solution: USA citizens, vote intelligently in November, 2008, and then continue to let your voice be heard so that the new government that is elected is not afraid to take more demanding environmental improvement steps, steps that require much more of Americans than "Go out and shop". And for everyone in the world, continue to speak up, educate others, learn more yourself, vote, and promote the values you believe in.
Well, the list could probably continue far beyond that which would be of interest to you. However, I would like now to invite YOU, the reader, to submit one or more of your own pet enviro-peeves, or comment on any of those above. Surely, there must be SOMETHING in the environment and how we treat it, that you think needs improving! Let's have a discussion here of all our favorite, or least-favorite, enviro-peeves.
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Fossil Fuel
