Spring Break
The name of the game: sustainability
Grits and Greens
Christopher Vincent
Issue date: 8/22/07 Section: Opinion
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There is a better part of our culture that causes us to assume that the lifestyle that lasts the longest is the best. This is why we are taught to play hard, work hard, save money, and not waste things. A dollar saved on gasoline, or on the electric bill is one earned toward a new laptop, or at least one less little bit of work we need to do to pay the bills. We feel this intuitively. We generally know what we should do. It's putting it into practice that muddies the creek.
We don't recycle because nobody sticks a blue bin with tree arrows in a triangle right in front of us at the moment we want to throw our Diet Coke bottles away. So we pour a libation to the god of convenience by throwing our waste in the regular trash. We don't think that, in a few years, the landfill will be full of little decisions like that, and nobody will want a new landfill in their area.
Of course it's not convenient, but it's responsible in the long run. Things like carpooling or recycling aren't handed to us on a silver platter, but they're quite simple and easy, really. The people that design and facilitate the local system don't always collaborate with us, but I'll deal with them in my next column.
If you don't mind, all five of you that have read this far, I'd like you to play a little game with me. As you begin to settle into your new routine this week, think about the things you're doing, how you're eating, drinking, moving around and dealing with people. Don't just think about them in light of today. Think about their long-term impacts, whether harmful or helpful. Send me an e-mail and tell me what you discovered.
Christopher Vincent is a staff writer for The Arkansas Traveler. His column sppears every other Wednesday.
We don't recycle because nobody sticks a blue bin with tree arrows in a triangle right in front of us at the moment we want to throw our Diet Coke bottles away. So we pour a libation to the god of convenience by throwing our waste in the regular trash. We don't think that, in a few years, the landfill will be full of little decisions like that, and nobody will want a new landfill in their area.
Of course it's not convenient, but it's responsible in the long run. Things like carpooling or recycling aren't handed to us on a silver platter, but they're quite simple and easy, really. The people that design and facilitate the local system don't always collaborate with us, but I'll deal with them in my next column.
If you don't mind, all five of you that have read this far, I'd like you to play a little game with me. As you begin to settle into your new routine this week, think about the things you're doing, how you're eating, drinking, moving around and dealing with people. Don't just think about them in light of today. Think about their long-term impacts, whether harmful or helpful. Send me an e-mail and tell me what you discovered.
Christopher Vincent is a staff writer for The Arkansas Traveler. His column sppears every other Wednesday.
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