I switched the TV on and the commercials block came on. A good 2/3 of them were basically advertising “environmentally friendly life”. Now, right after that came these of the newer and more powerful vehicles, then the fast food chains… So I decided I’d move on to National Geographic. Well, there I hit the shows on eco-friendly solutions for the everyday life. Then I switched the TV back off and realized I had just wasted a couple of watts for nothing. Ah, well…

Then, on the next day, I woke up to realize that we’re a plastic poisoned generation. Seriously. And even worse – the farther north and west you go, the worse it seems to get. Now, tell me Eastern Europe or Africa are behind! Won’t believe you either. In Bulgaria, for instance, at 80% of the stores you won’t get a free plastic bag. Bread, in fact, is mostly sold unwrapped or packaged in paper bags. Products you buy on the open market you get mostly in your own well-worn textile bag or a multiple-use plastic one (also well-used). At the same time, here in Holland you get your tomatoes either in a plastic bag or even worse – a plastic container. They make good stock photos, but these you only take once. Last of my list came dog poop. In much of the Western countries you ought to pick it up after your dog otherwise a fine might be imposed on you… I personally think that people should just watch their step more carefully. But who listens to me?! Well, so since they require you to pick it up, they often also provide you with… good guess – plastic bags!

My conclusion – the more comfort people require, the more plastic they use. The more plastic they use, the more they pollute the earth. And these same people are the ones who beat themselves in the chest for being eco-aware. Now, if bread isn’t wrapped in anything the price will naturally be lower. So it goes also for veggies and fruits. You’ve gotta wash them anyways before you eat them, and millions of people ’round the world do it on daily basis. Then, the dog poop – my best example. If you actually leave it there… smudge it perhaps – it’ll pretty much be gone withing a week (maybe even faster in North-West Europe cause of the rain). Instead, the eco-aware folks make me put it in a bag that takes about 200 000 years to fully decompose.

So, do I believe that people are honestly trying to decrease planet pollution – No! I believe that the people of the vast majority of developed countries are all about their own comfort at any price (esp. cause they can afford it). Yes, they do recycle more than other countries, but I doubt someone’s taking the dog poop out of my plastic bag to recycle it later (the bag, that is). I might be totally wrong too. But they’ve gotta do better to convince me.

And a final note – open your eyes to the everyday practice of the people around you and you’ll realize why God has already planned since long ago to make a new earth. This one’s going down, baby… It’s going down.

Tags: earth, ecology, planet, pollution