I can't deal with it anymore!
Between my mom and my DH, there is too much goddamn gloom in this house.
I'm sorry, but the earth is going to fucking hell because people will not stop breeding. It doesn't fucking matter if we have to throw away a 3 year old DVD player or my beaded lanyard explodes and I throw away pretty beads that *could* be reused or we get plastic bags from the grocery store so we can pick up our dogs' shit so as not to contaminate the groundwater or I drink from my fucking Nalgene or we have to throw out a gallon bottle of canola oil because it's rancid.
IT'S NOT GOING TO MAKE A DAMN DIFFERENCE IN MY LIFETIME. I'm just so sick of feeling guilty for trying to exist. I didn't invent this stupid fucking wasteful society. I do my best, but I can't do everything that I "can" do. I have to work and have some sanity. It's like the equivalent of another full time job to be environmentally conscious and I can't bring myself to do it while everyone around me breeds and throws things away without a thought.
I am only one person. Yes, I can make a
small difference, but I truly don't believe that it will matter. I don't have faith in humans to stop destroying this planet and themselves. Without that faith, all this angst is pointless and only serves to increase misery in my life. The people full of equal parts criticism and hope are making me fucking crazy. UGH.
Oh, you must have been reading my mind today!!!!!
Even on the news today they were talking about environmental exhaustion, how folks area fed up and sick of the rhetoric and alleged environmentally friendly companies cashing in.
One guy called in saying, first it was feminism, then fat people, then smokers, then transfats, now the environment - when will Big Money care about Human Rights, War, High Taxes, etc.?
I always wonder when a cause takes one such a HUGE life of its' own like this recent tree-hugging phase - What is the government trying to hide? Usually when the government says, "oooo look at that cause" pointing one way, they're really hiding something behind our backs the other way.
Fiona Wrote:Oh, you must have been reading my mind today!!!!!
Even on the news today they were talking about environmental exhaustion, how folks area fed up and sick of the rhetoric and alleged environmentally friendly companies cashing in.
One guy called in saying, first it was feminism, then fat people, then smokers, then transfats, now the environment - when will Big Money care about Human Rights, War, High Taxes, etc.?
I always wonder when a cause takes one such a HUGE life of its' own like this recent tree-hugging phase - What is the government trying to hide? Usually when the government says, "oooo look at that cause" pointing one way, they're really hiding something behind our backs the other way.
Good point. I'm sure that (ironically) the powers that be (in the US at least) would rather have people in a tizzy over recycling and carbon footprints than focus on stuff like torture, human rights, war, the economy, etc.
Arguably, none of that stuff will matter if the planet dies, but still...
Mostly, I'm just coming from a place of futility.
I think what helps me get through it is to do what I can (without making my life miserable or unbearable in some other way) because I like nature, but I temper it with a whole lot of not giving a fuck about the state of the human race and actually *hoping* we die out and let the planet breathe.
Humans, as a species, deserve whatever bad things happen to them as a result of their rampant breeding and consumption. That sucks for the good individuals in the world, but them's the breaks.
I don't know that I am an enviromentalist, but I try to do what I can. That said, I can understand the frustration.
The thing that is annoying right now is that in the past two or three years it suddenly is hip to be "green". Worse yet, it is now profitable to be green. Madison Avenue has taken over the "green" since now they can see greenbacks. THAT is where my annoyance.
Back in the day, I remember the PSA campaigns of "give a hoot, don't polute", IronEyes the crying Indian*, and even Sesame Street had a couple of bits on it. You did it because you wanted it to be nice for you and your neighbor. Then nothing for 2 decades.
Suddenly after all the materialism and the McMansions and the newer/bigger/loads of packaging now we have people pretending to give a damn.
-We can't live within our means and have to buy every thing advertised to us, but we can put out a 24 by 15 inch box with ALL of our recycling every two weeks.
-We have to have the newest house that the garage is bigger than most homes in the 1950's and costs a bundle to heat, but we bought one or two pieces of furniture that uses recycled stuff.
-We have to move out of the city so we take farmland to build our little community (complete with paved roads and a soccer field), but we buy organic.
The most annoying this is Wal-Mart is now doing Green ads. "if every Walmart shopper were to buy XXX we could save YYYY with the billions sold."
*Yes, I realize that Iron Eyes wasn't actually a Native American. But the actor got so into the part that I think he ended forgetting that.
I remember several boards ago (LOL) Eddy posted his reasons for not recycling, and I was kind of dumbstruck. It was so bold, but it made some sense on some level. He did the math outlining how even if he created twice as much garbage as he currently does and drives a gas guzzler for the rest of his life, he still would not impact the environment as much as even having one child who has one child who has one child.
Me, I do the best I can. I don't get guilted out by the sheer volume of insanity out there, but I try not to buy so much crap, recycle as much as I can, drive a smaller car and most importantly NOT BREED. MHO
I do some. I know I should do more.
Not breeding is by FAR the biggest thing each of us can do to save the earth. I would like to go around for the next full year and whenever someone crows about a baby being born to a relative or friend just state flatly, "Great, another resource-sucker hits the planet." Seriously.
I do what I can but I'm only one person.
I agree 100% with HH. Nothing will change as long as people continue to procreate.
It's hip to be green and every company is jumping on the bandwagon. First it was pink, now green. No one cares anymore. Saying you're a green company means nothing. Nothing.
At bit O.T. but the other day on the radio, two of them were bemoaning the population growth and how quickly it's escalating. She has two kids and his wife is preggers with their third.
People never seem to see themselves while criticizing others.
I hear ya, and know where you're coming from.
For me, it's not guilt. For me, it's more an awareness of the things I do that can cause problem -- and actually, I see it more as problems FOR ME. So in that case, yes, the changes I make now I hope will change things FOR ME.
Last year and the year before, FIL battled a rare form of cancer. If you've ever dealt with someone who has cancer, the doctors will tell you they don't know what CAUSES cancer, but that there are studies, blah blah blah, which show a correlation, blah blah blah, between this kind of cancer, and these other things. In FIL's case, it was pesticide and herbicide use -- and he was an Ag teacher for 40 years, as well as an avid gardener. I'm not saving the planet so much as I intend to save my husband, when I'm nagging him to get rid of the chemicals and start using organic methods to control pests and weeds.
Ditto MIL. She has Hodgkins Lymphoma, which is caused by environmental factors (they don't know what, blah blah blah, but SIBLINGS are at greater risk if one of them gets HL than are kids -- it's not genetic so much as it is environmental). Who knows what the specific environmental factor(s) was/were, but why not reduce other chemicals (like plastics) from my life, just in case?
If the air we breathe causes me or mine to get lung cancer, then I want that cleaned up.
We're not going to have some garden-of-Eden planet in our lifetime, that's for sure. But everything we do can potentially fix the things that could directly affect us. And I find that a very good reason to be a good environmentalist.
I totally know what you're feeling. At my old job, we had "green contracts" documenting things we vowed to do to help the environment. Mine mainly focused on raising awareness, but still, I know that I was doing more than everyone else combined by not breeding.
But really, like George Carlin said, "the earth isn't going anywhere. WE are!" Humanity will breed itself out of existence as resources are diminished and we die out and kill each other to grasp the precious little fresh water and food that remains as we pave the earth to build more cookie-cutter houses and roads that can accommodate Hummers and SUVs. Once the human plague is gone, the earth will return to baseline and Mother Nature will laugh in triumph.
I totally know what you mean and it is a PAIN to be guilted-out. One thing I did, a year ago, was stop interacting with a "friend" "acquaintance" (whatever she was) who was a holier-than-thou recycling/environmental/political nazi. And here is as story about how nutz those people can be: The last time we were at a party at her house I went to the bathroom and noticed the bathtub was half full. Being the nosy, uncooth boor I am, I inquired about it to her husband. The reply?...."We don't like to waste water so when we take a bath we save half of the water for next time."
I kid you not!!!
EsTea Wrote:The last time we were at a party at her house I went to the bathroom and noticed the bathtub was half full. Being the nosy, uncooth boor I am, I inquired about it to her husband. The reply?...."We don't like to waste water so when we take a bath we save half of the water for next time." I kid you not!!!
You mean they enjoy sitting in each other's filth? That is disgusting.
NKBurlington Wrote:EsTea Wrote:The last time we were at a party at her house I went to the bathroom and noticed the bathtub was half full. Being the nosy, uncooth boor I am, I inquired about it to her husband. The reply?...."We don't like to waste water so when we take a bath we save half of the water for next time." I kid you not!!!
You mean they enjoy sitting in each other's filth? That is disgusting.
That's insane. Why don't they just install one of those cool water recycling systems in their house?
A greywater system. Nobody sits around in filthy water! Idiots. Do it right if you're going to do it.
I like to watch Ed Begley's show and get tips. I just wish we weren't renters so we could do more. Our house does have large solar panels on the roof but the owners are right wingers who don't give a fuck and so the panels don't work and haven't been maintained (they are also nearly 20 years old). If we owned this house we could make them work right, or replace them with new ones and get off the grid most of the time. We could install a greywater system. We could and would do as much as possible, but we can't as renters and we won't be able to have that kind of home until DH retires and we have our own home, years and years from now.
Until then we just do what we can. It's easy to recycle with curbside pickup. It's easy to use canvas bags at the shops. It's easy to drive a Mini Cooper with over 30 mpg. It's easy to drive scooters with over 60 mpg, and it's easy for DH to ride his bicycle to work most days, which is around 25 miles round trip. We do our best and don't worry about it.
There are two things that bother me about other people and their disregard for the planet. One is people who idle their cars and the other is people who buy Hummers, Escapades, Expeditions, etc. There is absolutely no need for these vehicles to be on the road. You're hogging all our gas!
NKB- my FIL just bought a giant dually diesel truck. He doesn't own a farm, a ranch, or ever tow ANYTHING, and this vehicle is in addition to his, I kid you not, Yukon and Expedition and 20 yr old sports car.
Yes, it's his money and his life and he can do whatever he pleases but the sheer wastefulness is disgusting.
As for the recycling bit- what everyone said here. I'm not going to go overboard, I don't have curbside recycling but am looking into how to get our neighborhood on the program since every other one around here has it (wtf?), I use canvas bags, I drive a car that is small enough to get decent gas mileage and big enough to hold the dogs, I try to coordinate my errands to not waste gas, we use all fluorescent light bulbs and are looking into other ways to make our home more energy efficient (sealing windows, doors, attic solutions etc.)
It's not about how much you do, it's that you choose to do something at all.
~kirbs
Hubby and I do what we can. I drive a small 4 cylinder car as does hubby. I often spend time thinking about things we can do to save energy and I think it drive hubby insane. haha. He changed out all the bulbs for the energy saving ones. When I am home no lights are on. There is no need for it since we have so much natural light. I just thought today we need to get an outdoor clothesline to dry all the dog laundry I do. I hate using the dryer. Speaking of SUV's have you all seen the hybrid ones? I think its amusing that someone thinks they are saving the planet with one of these. The small print on an ad of I think the Chevy one says it only gets 20mpg. To me that isn't too great.
Edited to add. I forgot we stopped drinking bottle water as well. Way too much waste.
Even so, the hybrid SUVs might be good for someone who really needs the space and utility afforded by the vehicle type (and I don't mean just to cart a bunch of brats around,
). So no, they're not getting the mileage of a Prius, but they are doing better than they otherwise would with a regular SUV. Plus, since they shut off under a certain speed, they're letting out no emissions during those times.
I had a hybrid Escape for a while, and it got almost as good of mileage as my Focus. It's nothing to brag about in the big picture of all available vehicles, but it was great for an SUV. I never even wanted an SUV, but my ex-fiance was insisting I get something "higher and safer" after a particularly bad accident we were in (in his Jeep) that had it happened in my Focus, I would have been pinned in, if not seriously injured.
Once my commute changed to make it less efficient since the hybrid was backwards on the city vs highway mileage, I went back into a Focus. I know I'm slightly more fuel efficient now, and we don't have as much need for the space as we did before (except lately, and I've got no friends with trucks close by-darnit), but damn if I don't still think about the fact that my car doesn't "shut off" anymore at red lights and on certain roads where the Escape used to do that. I really miss that aspect of my hybrid.
Quote:Ditto MIL. She has Hodgkins Lymphoma, which is caused by environmental factors (they don't know what, blah blah blah, but SIBLINGS are at greater risk if one of them gets HL than are kids -- it's not genetic so much as it is environmental). Who knows what the specific environmental factor(s) was/were, but why not reduce other chemicals (like plastics) from my life, just in case?
Yeah, I'm quoting myself!
Talked with MIL last night. She heard from her doctor that she may have gotten the HL from her Remicade, an IV arthritis medication! Just more evidence that we should be careful about putting chemicals (in this case, medicine) in our bodies. I know that in her case, as well as others, it's an issue of pain-over-risk, and I'm fine with that. But I'm thinking of the people who reach for a pill when they have even the tiniest ache, or the people who insist on antibiotics for a cold (my friend says that all her colds are "strep throat"!), etc. There's some value in weathering the day-to-day discomforts -- in the case of colds, it builds your immune system.
That reminds me that I need to get off the pill. This might be the perfect year to get my tubal, so I can stop putting synthetic hormones in my body!!!
EsTea Wrote:The last time we were at a party at her house I went to the bathroom and noticed the bathtub was half full. Being the nosy, uncooth boor I am, I inquired about it to her husband. The reply?...."We don't like to waste water so when we take a bath we save half of the water for next time." I kid you not!!!
That is just sick. *vomits* I'm gonna be scrubbing myself extra hard in the shower this morning. Ew ew ew.
Nadleeh Wrote:I totally know what you're feeling. At my old job, we had "green contracts" documenting things we vowed to do to help the environment. Mine mainly focused on raising awareness, but still, I know that I was doing more than everyone else combined by not breeding.
But really, like George Carlin said, "the earth isn't going anywhere. WE are!" Humanity will breed itself out of existence as resources are diminished and we die out and kill each other to grasp the precious little fresh water and food that remains as we pave the earth to build more cookie-cutter houses and roads that can accommodate Hummers and SUVs. Once the human plague is gone, the earth will return to baseline and Mother Nature will laugh in triumph.
OH I LOVE IT.........I was wondering If I was alone in following the
wisdom of George Carlin.
Yes this earth is not going anywhere.
And I am so sick to death of people worrying about it when there is bigger things to focus on, like the war, and $$$$
So right on!!!!!! Nadleeh its nice to know a fellow "Carlin" Fan.
ITMT I am not worried about a damn thing. Cause by the time mother nature takes her revenge we will be long gone, lol
