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Thread: Away has gone away - NSR

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Oct 2003
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    Away has gone away - NSR

    Away has gone away

    Once upon a time when we didn't want something anymore we just threw it away. But 'away' has gone away - the things we throw away end up somewhere. The rubbish that we don't want in our back garden will have to go somewhere, into somebody's back garden, or next to somebody's bit of land. So by keeping our own personal space clean and tidy and free from pollutants we are selfishly passing the problem onto someone else. You might think here that you have every right to do so because you pay your tax's and these include rubbish disposal, but that doesn't make the land fill site any better looking, it doesn't save the local living creatures from suffering from whatever poisons the land fill site has leached into the surrounding earth, or from the fumes belched out by the vehicles that are used to transport that rubbish around the world. Nor does it help the desecration caused to the earth by the mining required to build those vehicles, and those waste handling plants, and provide them with fuel and electricity.

    I have recently become more and more aware of the amount of rubbish that I take home with me every time that I go to the supermarket. Rubbish that is called packaging. When I get home from the supermarket I can fill a bin bag with stuff that I have just bought that I didn't need, stuff that was there solely for assisting in the sale of what it contained. The cardboard box around my tube of toothpaste for example, or the cardboard box used to make my round pot of hummus square so it will stack easier, when the round pot was all that was really needed. The list goes on and on.

    Supermarkets are becoming one of the dominant forces in the world. They could be considered to have more power than our governments in their ability to dictate prices and control farming issues. If the supermarkets wanted less packaging then the manufacturers would produce less packaging. If the supermarkets had to dispose of the packaging themselves then they would want less packaging. If you were to take any unnecessary packaging off your shopping items as you put them into your bags at the checkout and leave them there then the supermarket would have to deal with it. They would have to place them in their bins and pay for their disposal. If everyone did this pretty soon the supermarkets would be raking up huge disposal bills and they would have their manufacturers providing stock in the least packaging possible. If this happened we would all have a bit less to throw away and the world would be a little bit nicer because of it.

    Phil

    --------

    The quote "Away has gone away" is attributed to William A McDonough

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Oct 2003
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    Outside the cube
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    You know, my husband is very into conservation--both materially and financially (I am too, but he's more into it than me) and people tend to make fun of him as a cheapskate. For instance, he drove an old beat-up car for several years because it still ran fine...and some of our "friends" and neighbors would constantly complain and say "how can you have that thing parked in front of your house" and "arent' you embarrassed?" (God forbid) Sorry if I am not driving a spankin' new Beamer or a gas guzzling Suburban. But then again, I'm not in debt 50-100K...lol! The car was a little embarrassing...but it did annoy me that they felt a need and had the gall to express that kind of crap to us.

    People we know (including relatives) also hassled my husband for composting food scraps in our yard, and for wearing "unfashionable" old clothing. They think we are hippies or something. I think some of them are dumb-asses.

    Then again, I live in Fairfield County...home of the Stepford Wives (and husbands). Appearances here are everything, apparently. You want to see the throw-away society? It's in full swing here and it's disgusting.

    Imagine trying to raise a child w/ good values under these circumstances. It's not easy! But we do stress "recycle, re-use, and don't be wasteful" and so far our son appears to do the right thing. For instance, his job is to collect all the cans and bottles after parties we have and he takes them w/ his grandfather to the redemption center. He gets to keep the cash. But we've been called "slave drivers" and just plain whacked-out for having our 10 yr old earn his own allowance in this way. Whatever, we don't care and our son seems to like us anyway!

    Sprite
    "I call it reveling in natures finest element. Water in its pristine form. Straight from the heavens. We bathe in it, rejoicing in the fullest." --BZ

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Aug 2002
    Posts
    2,931
    Just last week I made a trip to the county landfill to dispose of, well, more or less, my basement. I don't really like adding more junk to an already giant pile, but if you'd have seen the paneling in my basement, you'd give me a pass on this one.

    I will at least give credit to my local supermarket in that they encourage you to return the plastic bags directly to them for recycling. It would be even more efficient if they just reused them directly, but I suppose they can't due to all the liabilities.

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Aug 2002
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    2,931
    Quote Originally Posted by snowsprite
    For instance, his job is to collect all the cans and bottles after parties we have and he takes them w/ his grandfather to the redemption center. He gets to keep the cash. But we've been called "slave drivers" and just plain whacked-out for having our 10 yr old earn his own allowance in this way.
    Wow, making your kid earn his allowance, you guys are NUTS!

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Oct 2003
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    (ten letters sucka!)
    "I call it reveling in natures finest element. Water in its pristine form. Straight from the heavens. We bathe in it, rejoicing in the fullest." --BZ

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Oct 2004
    Location
    shinjuku
    Posts
    75
    This post is love. Whelk covers phil in flowery hearts of love from above for he is understand. One day Whelk is hope that all ugly human work with idea to save wild with conservation.

    dispose alkaline batteries with conscious, and whelk will respond with bukkake of sweet rose heart!


    shinjuku, MOTHERFUCKER!

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Nov 2002
    Location
    Melbourne, Australia
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    That's beautiful, whelk mang. <sniff>

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Dec 2002
    Location
    Montreal
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    2,373
    Wow. Who knew the Angry Whelk had a soft, fuzzy side?

    SaAaH (and good post Phil - makes me lament the disappearance of the repairman and how silly it is that we no longer expect appliances to last more than a handful of years),
    d.

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Oct 2003
    Posts
    168
    I can honestly say that I have never uttered the word "rubbish" in my life. I have to admit, it sounds so much better than "throw out that shit!"...

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Oct 2003
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    Close, but not close enough
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    This post deserves a
    and a FKNA.

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