Save the Earth, Do this!

I think generally that consuming and using fewer resources is a good thing. I am afraid of the cost of what a mass-consumption society like the United States has on the Earth. We try to quench our insatiable appetite, but don't relate the societal and environmental costs of such a lifestyle. Where will all the Starbucks cups go once they are used (probably only once)? I think most people know the reality that most of our waste will end up in a landfill or dumped somewhere else. Whenever we buy a product we often don't take into account costs that are not from the price of the product, like the environmental cost of producing the product, maintaining a factory, and pollution. Some people don't look past the monetary cost of a product. The companies don't want to be upfront with it because they don't want customers thinking about it, similar to the idea presented in Food Inc. that large food manufacturers don't want the public thinking about where their food is coming from and extent to which animals are mistreated. The main goal in the recent Green movement, I believe, is to bring awareness to environmental issues, such as pollution, and the ferment demand for alternative products.

Even though Chicago doesn't have a recycling program (at least not in my neighborhood), I began collecting recyclables since freshman year. I am lucky because I have a park across the street which has recycling dumpster from a private company. Because of this, it wasn't such a hassle for me to start recycling. I started to recycle because I felt that things shouldn't be wasted, and if something could be used again, it should be used again instead of just lying in a landfill. Sounds reasonable enough.

Also I love Mother Earth. The numerous wonders and phenomena that occur in nature fascinate me. There is so much diversity and beauty. However, some human activities have challenged the existence of these wonders. Just yesterday in AP Human Geography, I watched a video/documentary about Jane Goodal and her work with chimpanzees in Gombe National Park in Tanzania. The way she described nature, as a peaceful escape from the human world, made me wish that I was back in Africa living simply in nature. Her relationships with the chimpanzees fascinated me because she respected them as individuals. The chimps' environment was being reduced due to human settlements. I don't know what to say about the moral argument of displacing animals for the betterment of humans, but I am sure that the loss of a rich variety of species takes away from the beauty of Earth.