As Americans, we have lost touch with our natural surroundings. Scenic drives now apply to taking a long, congested drive down the Las Vegas Strip. After all, it ranked the number one “scenic drive” in the country (Affluenza, 189). We now spend more time indoors than ever before. I am sad to say I am guilty of that. As a child, I loved being outdoors. I used go on long hikes and nature walks with my brother and dad. I’d want to play outside as long as possible, usually until it was literally too dark to go on. Today, whether it is work, school or just lack of time, I am rarely outside for leisure anymore. I think I can speak for many on that issue. Appreciating nature is one thing. Preserving it is another.
Through a simple act of recycling, we could make great changes in the world. It would benefit all, so why object? Maybe we’re too lazy to walk to the blue bin to toss away our water bottle (which causes us cancer) or maybe it’s not worth spending 99 cents to purchase a nice, reusable shopping bag. But such a small gesture has large positive outcomes.
I work at a private country club, where many members are quite wealthy. When I first started there, I quickly realized a big issue. When cleaning out the gold carts, most of the trash consisted of beer bottles, plastic drink bottles and half-eaten meals. It is unfortunate to throw away the (sometimes untouched) food, but there were no recycling bins, which made up most of the trash. When I asked why the club had no blue bins, I was told “I don’t know. We really should.” And that was that. So I took it upon myself to set up a bucket solely for bottles. Many members appreciated it while many others simply ignored it and tossed their bottles into the trash, which was literally 2 inches next to the bin of bottles.
As a vegetarian for 5 years, the effects of the meat industry on the environment were well known to me. Most people do not realize the detrimental damage consuming so much meat does to the earth. As stated in Affluenza, red meat is responsible for 20x the land use due to grazing, 17x the common water pollution because of animal wastes, 5x the toxic water pollution and water use from chemicals in feed grains and water for irrigation, and 3x the greenhouse gas emission from greater energy use (pg. 200-01). Now there is nothing wrong is eating meat, but by cutting our consumption in half and adding more nutritious foods would benefit out health and the environment, in turn, also benefiting our health. We only have one planet and we need to start acknowledging it. It is our problem now and it is only going to get worse in the [near] future.
by Jeff Hersch (Section 01)
It has come to the point where everyone is aware of the effects of pollution but still can't seem to cooperate with the different methods in environmental conservation. By telling people to consume less meat they find it offensive. By advising people to make the miniscule extra effort to recycle they claim they have no time but in fact they have no interest. A lot of the mentality in today's society is that people are concerned for today. They are not thinking about what the world will look like in the future because they're busy making money now.
ReplyDeleteMelissa Tampan Section 01
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ReplyDeleteYour definitely right that people don't know what they are doing to the planet. I walk down to the basement of my hall to throw out my trash and recyclable items every week and I still see plastic bottles mixed with trash. I don't understand why people do that! It makes me furious because its so simple to divide trash and recyclable items with one another. Most of the blame has to be ignorance and just pure laziness on our part. I also believe that it would be hard to do theoretically if we cut meat production because it such a big industry in the United States. Not just meat production causes environmental harm, our ability to grow large yields of crops causes land degradation. It seems like everything we do as humans have environmental consequences.
ReplyDeleteMiles Kong
Section 01
The problems of pollution and environmental protection are often used as political divides in a majority of the discourse about our government. The demand for jobs in the United States has created a renewed call for shale drilling and other oil projects throughout pristine lands. Exxon and Chevron along with other oil companies, have spent significant amounts of money on advertisements during prime-time slots. As a freelance writer I have even found a great deal of jobs offered by outside marketing firms to write "pro-oil" content for various websites.
ReplyDeleteThe major talking point has focused on how oil drilling creates jobs. Although the temporary boost of a thousand or so jobs may be beneficial for the short-term, it does not guarantee a long term sustainable solution for job growth and energy problems. We can either have 4% unemployment and a city like Shanghai, which boasts some of the most severe smog and pollution problems out there, or we can take environmental preservation and regulation seriously and guarantee a sustainable future for future generations
This is a very interesting blog that caught my attention because it is very true that the world that we live in today doesnt leave much time for being in touch with our natural surrondings and our decisons affect our planet each and every day. I see it too many times where someone would throw their plastic bottles or such in the garbage when there is a recycling bin right next to it. I do believe that many people think that it would not make a difference because they are one person who is not doing it. This is unacceptable because every thing and every decison that we make each day affects our lives and the peoples lives around us. In this case, by passing what the right thing to do, weather it be telling someone you know the importance of recyling who doesnt do it can make a difference. It is a hard thing to do but it can lead to making the earth a better and more environmentally friendly place.
ReplyDeleteJustin Olsen
Section 1
I would like to defend the Las Vegas Strip as one of the most scenic places in the country. If you think about it, where in nature do you find structures of such aesthetic and engineering? I'm not saying nature doesn't have its ways of being incredibly more complex, because it does, but the Las Vegas Strip is the actualization of human thought. Entertainment is something humans have developed to incredible levels, compared to the tag squirrels play on the Rutgers campuses and that is one of the shrines of that social construction.
ReplyDeleteOnto your comment about environmental friendliness. I could not agree more, but clearly our mindset and environmentalist groups have been failing. And to that comment, I say you should go away from New Jersey and start a farm, because you aren't going to get any initiative from government or corporations. I know I want to, and I want to set up a solar panel so I can keep using my computer to play games, listen to music, and do graphic design.
I absolutely agree that people need to focus more on recycling or even reducing the things that they consume. If you think about it, it's insane that we bottle water to sell it, yet most people see this as something normal and even necessary. God forbid they drink water from the tap. As for meat, the industrial food system we have created is ruining our environment one hamburger at a time. I took an ethics of eating class last semester and I was shocked to find out that many of my classmates didn't connect their cheap fast food hamburger to a living cow which obviously needs to be fed and produces a ton of waste. There is such a disconnect between us and food. People blame global warming on planes, trains, and automobiles without even realizing that the hamburger they just ate adds more to global warming than the other three things combined.
ReplyDeletePeople will only accept recycling when it becomes convenient in the United States. Although single stream recycling has helped, Americans feel they just do not have the time. In other nations it is not so simple to just recycle.
ReplyDeleteWith the use of green shopping bags you need to provide an incentive in these hard economic times. Why would any family struggling to provide food and clothing spend any money on these reusable bags, if they can get plastic ones for free? Shoprite offers 5 cents back on every green bag used, but that is simply not enough.
Also reducing meat consumption just means more vegetable consumption sot the land taken up by cows and chickens is taken up by farming. This farming also uses more pesticides which harm the earth even further, so I do not see how reducing meat consumption will lead to a greener earth.
Placing a recycling container where there previously was none really does make a big difference. I grew up spending my summers at a cottage on a lake, and every August the lake association would host a barbecue. Everyone who gathered for food and fun threw their garbage into big cans that were either taken to the dump or burned in a hot fire.
ReplyDeleteMy brother decided that he should create a recycling center at the barbecue and collect all the bottles and cans. An overwhelming majority of the party appreciated what my brother had done and tossed their bottles into the recycle bins. That was 25 years ago, but the recycle bins have now become a permanent fixture at the barbecue.
I agree that people have lost touch with the world around us. It is very true that most people spend more time indoors on gaming systems or different types of social networking which has caused people to simply forget how great the outdoors are. People need to shut off thier gaming/smart phones/computers ect & just step outside & enjoy the wonders of nature or better yet what we have left of nature. I also agree with most of the recycling comments for example ashanley said that people will only recycle when it is convenient for them, which is sad but true. Alot of people still just do the basic recycling which is good but more can be done with the reusing of products example are the go green bags you can buy for food shopping. Most people would like the incentive for having to purchase these bags and some store do offer discounts on your purchase total but that simply isn't good enough to some shoppers. Also some food stores have the recycling machines were you can get a slip with a dollar amount on it for bringing your glass/can/ect.... in but I have only seen them in the metro NY area I think they should be nation wide because then you get cash for your glass/can's & can recycle before you shop get a slip & then money off for using your own bag over time a person could save hundreds.
ReplyDeleteAnneMarie Esemplare Sec. 80
I have a feeling that this entry is going to cause a lot of commotion amongst people especially since you hit on a very touchy subject. It caught my eye and I very much so respect your opinion on the situation, but I feel more obligated to play devil's advocate here because there are a lot of counter arguments to your statements. Also, I only skimmed the responses so please forgive me if I repeat anything they may have already brought up.
ReplyDeleteTo start off, I believe the purpose of spending 1 dollar on a reusable shopping bag is moot. The idea of promoting is green is great, but it still doesn't help with the situation we are in. Even if I did purchase a bag, my purchase will not alter the production or manufacturing of brown grocery bags. Huge corporations are already taking out plastic bags when you checkout unless you specifically ask for them. Also, the impact lag from myself or even 5,000 other people purchasing the reusable bags is too long. Meaning, that I may have purchased a green bag yesterday, but any company or activist group who is advocating for the expulsion of anything but the green bags won't know that until 6 months from now when statistics can be collected. By that time, I will probably have either lost or misplaced my green bag and have purchased another one. However, a good alternative could be to charge people for brown or plastic bags, which would then spark the use of the green bags (I know that Holland already does this).
Finally, when you talk about meat and the effect it has on our environment, there are a lot of small things that you overlooked. The meat industry is a primary source of cheap food, as well as a primary investor in our agricultural market. Many people can't afford healthier foods in their budget, so cheap meat has become a staple of their diet. This is why companies like McDonalds, Burger King, and Taco Bell flourish so much. To halt the production of meat would cause catastrophic effects on various other markets. Farmers who grow wheat and corn to feed the meat industries livestock would be out of work, as well as many Fast Food chains and restaurants that rely on cheap meat. That also means that the people working there would be unemployed, which in turn creates poverty. So the people who currently rely on the cheap food would now be out of a job and have no access to this cheap food. As you can see, its sort of like a catch 22.
I hope you enjoyed my argument and I don't mean to offend anyone by saying this, I'm just trying to bring up a point.
In comment to this blog, I agree that people just do not care as long as it does not directly affect them. Sure we all know that these environmental problems will eventually rear their ugly head in a way that it will become everyones problem but in the mean time if they do not see its affects they just keep on moving along. The whole aspect of recycling should be common sense for everyone but its not, people are generally lazy and that's the unfortunate problem. That may be an over-exaggeration but we consume so much for how small our population is in regards to the worldly population and our environmental footprints is the largest by far. The average American's environmental footprint could sustain numerous people in different parts of the world. As for the telling people to lay off the meat, it is easier said then done. I think instead of trying to get people to understand how big of a detriment livestock poses to the environment it may be a better plan to show people its detriment on their health when they consume too much. Then again look at how that has worked out for prevention of smoking. As bleak as it sounds our society is too heavily geared in Consumptive ways and it will be too late when we finally realize we need to change it up.
ReplyDeleteAs for staying inside more often, I can completely relate. It's unfortunate that today's adults don't spend as much time outdoors anymore. I blame our fast-paced society. When we actually have free time, all we (or just me at least) want to do is bum out and rest. I'm ashamed to admit it's been quite a while since I've been on a long walk outdoors. I also agree with your recycling concerns. My family has always recycled so I believe it's just common sense to do so nowadays, not to mention pretty easy! I work at a grocery store and while a significant amount of customers bring reusable bags, many people still throw their recyclables in the trash. It's overwhelmingly a matter of laziness; some people can't seem to walk 10 feet or wait 2 minutes to toss their bottles in the lobby's recycling bins. It'd be impossible to enforce a recycling law so I can only imagine our situation getting much worse before it gets better.
ReplyDeleteThe truth of the matter is that even the littlest things can count when trying to make a difference. As you stated what you did for your work place about getting a recycling bin for plastics, it is such a simple solution to the problem but had an overall astonishing affect for the planet. If we could all just try and make little changes within our lives, the overall aftermath creates a big change. Many people have tried to renew and reuse, we see this slogan in so many places. Companies have come out with products that have been created through reusable materials, i.e. countertops made out of newspaper or broken glass bottles. More new and creative products are being thought of by the idea of reusing materials.
ReplyDeleteAly Palumbo: Section 80
I agree that our society has sort of lost touch with nature. Due to the influx of technology, any little bit of free time is being used up by new age electronics. Many of us have forgotten just how beautiful the world around us is. Because of this disconnect, I believe we often times disregard taking extra measures in order to preserve the Earth. If as a society we can learn to appreciate and respect nature, I believe more people will take the extra precautions to ensure a cleaner environment.
ReplyDeleteI found your blog and commentary very interesting. An animal based diet is very harmful to the individual but also has much larger, planet-wide effects. Studies have indicated that the average American diet gets 47 percent of its calories from animal products. This equals a carbon footprint or impact of 2.52 tons of CO2 emissions per person per year. If each meat eater reduces their intake of animal produce they would be greatly reducing their carbon footprint. Thomas Walsh 01
ReplyDeleteIt is sad that your country club could not even spare the expense of recycling bottles and cans. I have worked at a retirement home for 5 years and not once have i ever seen a recycle bin there. I have asked and they basically said the same thing you did. This also means that the hospital does not recycle because they are connected with the retirement home I am employed at. If our big companies and corporations do not set the example of "going green" than I think it is the consumers responsibility to boycott these establishments until proper recycling and sanitation efforts are put into place...
ReplyDeleteAustin Payne, Cultures of Consumption, Section 80
Wow! I can’t believe they didn’t have recycling bins at your country club. Way to go you for taking the steps to try and fix this issue. You would think at a public place that caters to the more affluent class they would have the means to recycle and dispose of garbage properly. I also noticed something at school that I think I should share with all of you. At the freehold campus, each classroom has a blue bucket for recycling and another one for trash. Most of the students obey the rules and throw garbage in the garbage and recycling in the blue buckets. Sticking around school late one evening, I saw the janitor’s empting the garbage’s from the classrooms. Both of the cans were thrown into the same, huge wheelie garbage can they push around. Recycling and trash together in the same garbage…This made me think that even though most of us do the right thing and recycle, is it even going to really be recycled? At fast food restaurants and dunkin donuts ect…garbage’s are right there, curbside, all you have to do is roll you window down and stick your hand out to place something in the trash. Still garbage is found everywhere in most parking lots and streets. This comes down to the whole issue of laziness and going a little out of your way to do what is right…. Most people feel that their actions won’t matter, they are only one person. The reality of the situation is that everyone can make a difference if they try.
ReplyDeleteI always wonder where the blue bins are at some places. I dont understand why a company wouldn't want to help our planet by simply adding another bin. Even at my friends houses I question why they dont have a recycle bin. We have gotten so lazy that we cant even walk an extra inch to recycle rather than just toss it in the trash. People dont like to think about the conciquences, they just like to think about the present and the extra work it takes to recycle.
ReplyDeleteI am not a vegetarian, but I do agree Americans should cut down their consumption of meat. The damage it does to the earth is frightening. If I didnt love meat I would consider going vegetarian, but its just too good.
Hi Jeff,
ReplyDeleteI truly enjoyed reading your blog today. I agree with your statement about Americans losing touch with the natural environment. I grew up in Brooklyn, NY and all I did was play outside with my friends. Playing games such as kick-the-can, manhunt, softball, simon says etc.... I think children now are more interested in the internet especially social networking and video games. What happened to the days when we would invite our friends over to play boardgames? Now it is all about posting on Facebook and online video games.
Your point about recycling is very interesting. I think recycling should be further enforced and required at every establishment. I know in my town, if you do not recycle you will receive a fine. I think everyone should try and push one another to keep up with recycling. I have witnessed people through recyclable items in the regular trash. They do not have a regard for the environment.
I have my mother and boyfriend's mother on a role with recycling and using the "green" bags for shopping. Just a little bit does make a difference, but it needs to be done by everyone.
Hi Jeff,
ReplyDeleteI truly enjoyed reading your blog today. I agree with your statement about Americans losing touch with the natural environment. I grew up in Brooklyn, NY and all I did was play outside with my friends. Playing games such as kick-the-can, manhunt, softball, simon says etc.... I think children now are more interested in the internet especially social networking and video games. What happened to the days when we would invite our friends over to play boardgames? Now it is all about posting on Facebook and online video games.
Your point about recycling is very interesting. I think recycling should be further enforced and required at every establishment. I know in my town, if you do not recycle you will receive a fine. I think everyone should try and push one another to keep up with recycling. I have witnessed people through recyclable items in the regular trash. They do not have a regard for the environment.
I have my mother and boyfriend's mother on a role with recycling and using the "green" bags for shopping. Just a little bit does make a difference, but it needs to be done by everyone.
--Donna Fricano ==Section 80
Chris Neuteboom, I know you were just nicely trying to play devil’s advocate and all but read a book before you decide to take that on. The farmers who grow wheat and corn to feed the meat industries livestock are in debt up to their eyeballs because they are raising subsidized crops. People can afford healthier foods on a budget, they just have to be willing to eat less disgusting fatty, sodium filled things( I don’t know, maybe fruits and veggies?!). The fast food companies flourish because they’ve created an environment which they can thrive in. Pay your workers minimum wage and keep unions out so they can spend their money on “cheap” fast food that’s actually going to cost them more in the long run with more important things (like their health). It’s not a catch 22, it’s totally possible if Americans were willing to own up to the fact that the industrialized food system is ruining the planet, their bodies, and the economy. Alas, most people have no idea what goes on behind closed doors so they will remain ignorant (thanks in large part to advertising and corporate $$) and continue to poison their bodies as well as Mother Nature.
ReplyDeletep.s The Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan is a good place to start. He is still a carnivore, but he educates himself about where his food comes from.
ReplyDelete