The Green Buck Stops Here

The other thing is conservation. There seems to be a growing consensus in Washington that eliminating the bans on off-shore drilling and drilling in ANWAR is the answer to our energy problems, though I’ve never heard of any real effort for a government conservation plan. During WWII, there was a big government push on conservation of resources. Of course there was rationing but the rationing was accepted, in part, because the government made people feel it was their patriotic duty. I’m not calling for rationing but having a government sponsored public relations push would make a lot of sense. My Dad told me a story of the WWII days when the federal government would hold big, nighttime pep rallies in large stadiums. They would hand out cigarette lighters to everyone who came in and after giving their speeches on what a difference ordinary people could make if they worked together, they would have everyone light their lighters at once. He said the stadium lit up brighter than daylight.

Putting my tree-hugging tendencies aside, conservation just seems like the more practical and logical choice. It is a choice. We can pressure our leaders to make efforts in that direction. If that doesn’t work we can always just do it ourselves.

I’m guilty of forgetting about this too often so don’t call me perfect but… taking your own reusable containers to restaurants and fast food joints can make a big difference for our environment.

Styrofoam is a favorite choice of restaurants because it’s cheaper for them but is the most toxic container to the environment. Not only does it not break down in the landfills, when it breaks it releases toxic gasses from the little bubbles inside and you can’t just throw it into the recycle bin. Paper and cardboard containers will break down in the landfills but you can’t recycle them if they’ve been contaminated with food. Plastic bags can be recycled but you have to collect them then take them back to the store.

A couple of benefits to consider besides the environment:

1. Saucy Asian foods don’t drip out of the Styrofoam containers, through the plastic bag and on to your car upholstery or your nice clean shirt if you have your own tight fitting lid.

2. Fewer fast food containers floating down the roads and alleys after trash/recycle pickup days.

Any kind of reusable container will work that fits the food and will get it home clean and in one piece. You can google “Reusable Take-Out Containers” and can come up with all sorts of cool stuff or you can just dig through all those Tupperware containers we all have stuffed in our cabinets. I have to explain what I want when I take my own take-out containers just like I used to explain to the grocery clerks not to wrap my groceries in plastic bags before putting them into the canvas bags, but they do eventually catch on.