An Effort in Green

One of the big things I've learned on this journey is that the majority of people don't care, and don't even realise they should. It makes me sad. But all the more reason to carry on, and hope to change some people's minds!


A recent incident that really demonstrated this point to me:

A few days ago I went to Costco with my mom. They give out free samples there, in little paper cups. A woman was giving out little cookies, and she offered me one. Since she had the box of cookies right beside her, I asked her if I could have a cookie just placed in my hand instead of put in a paper cup and then put in my hand. She didn't seem to understand. I rephrased. She still didn't get it. She took a cookie out of a paper cup, handed it to me, and then crumpled up the paper cup, saying "I still have to throw it away. I can't use it again." I sighed. The last thing she said to me was the part that caused me the most surprise and dismay. She said "it's OK, these get thrown away by the thousands all the time." As we walked away, I said to my mom, "oh, well that makes me feel better then."


This just goes to show that there are still a lot of people who don't seem to even realise what's going on. And then there are also people who think they do, who recycle at home, and turn off the lights when they aren't needed, but who don't blink an eye at the thousands of paper cups being thrown in the trash every day, or who throw recyclable bottles, etc., in the garbage when they're out because there isn't a recycling bin around. We've got a long, long way to go.