Time for America to Lead Environmental Change

First appeared on April 21st, 2012
in The Lebanon Reporter

Some would argue winning World War II was America’s high water mark. And for you kids too busy for a history lesson, it’s true your great-grandparents helped save the world sans the cape and tights. And for our efforts, or more to the point those of your great-grandparents, we became honorary Captains of the World.

And while we wore this title with great pride and paraded our values around the globe with the noblest of intentions, shoving freedom in every open craw we came across, somehow the America heading for the twenty-teens, the same place that gave the world the airplane, computers and the Internet, suddenly finds itself an oil-splotched, coal fired dinosaur, defecating mountains of garbage and farting ozone depleting gasses.

If we are still to be the world’s Go-To-Guy on everything then the greatest fight perhaps lies ahead. Once again the world needs rescuing; only this time it’s from itself. If you please, swallow the urge to belch “This sounds like an Al Gore rant”, I’m not here to browbeat you for driving to work alone while drinking your coffee in Styrofoam cups only to turn around and hop on my private jet bound for the weekend shack I bought in Cannes using the money I earned by investing in a Styrofoam coffee cup start up.

But be it an addiction to oil, phobia of renewable energies or the unfathomable amount of garbage we create daily, there are problems the world needs to address. And before Dick Cheney tries to convince you there’s a military option, it starts with us (as in me the person who wrote this and you, the person reading it right now).
From its inception America has been a leader, and it’s this punch first hope for the best style that makes us the beautiful tragedy we are. Today it’s time for us to lead the world in a new direction however. One that will bring us a longer life and our children a healthier planet.

To date recycling is the easiest method we have for saving the world and yet, just like soccer and the Metric System, Americans are yet to fully embrace it. Jennifer Lawrence, Executive Director of the Boone County Solid Waste Management District, says inconvenience is the number one reason people give for not recycling.“(Boone County offers) alternatives such as curbside pick-up, the Lebanon Street Department, (and) County recycling drop locations,” Lawrence explains.

Many of you already recycle to which the Earth, wheezing for oxygen and fighting a bad case of garbage-induced indigestion, says thank you. Jennifer points out that those of you who do recycle have already helped create new materials from your old garbage. “The list of items that can be produced directly from recycled materials is endless,” Lawrence points out. Everything from Picnic Tables and Park Benches to Rubber Playground Mulch, Bicycle Racks, Clothes, Stuffed Animals, Pens, and Pencils can all be made from recycled materials.

Lawrence advises batteries can be tricky. “Rechargeable batteries and cell phones are probably the least recycled,” She explains, “Alkaline household batteries are not recyclable nor hazardous.” The BCSWMD also wants people to know they have a local office in Lebanon where residents can either leave items or find help determining the best destination for taking them.
Still, with so many alternatives, far too much goes unrecycled.

Packaging is a notorious culprit. And while some Americans have done it, working around packaging is not a viable option in many cases. Nobody is asking for you to move up into the mountains, put out a self-sustaining garden, grow a beard and build a bi-level out of rocks and moss; rather the idea is to simply take a second look at what the family puts in the garbage bin.

The website “how to make a difference now” reminds us there are many ways we can reduce packaging. The 2 easiest methods being to take our own reusable bags to the grocery while also buying items in bulk whenever we can.
For some it’s about a lifestyle change. But not a stop cutting your hair and pay $50,000 for a 3 cylinder car that runs on a mix of switchgrass, sunflower seeds and used Q-Tips kind of change. Rather it’s simply a second look at what gets purchased and what gets tossed away.

Perhaps it has another use besides becoming archaeological fodder for some team of scientists 2,000 years from now who are left only to ponder why individual packs of Capri Sun were necessary if people drank them in their homes anyway.
The time has come for America to take the lead in building a greener world. But for those of us worried about getting Johnny to soccer practice on time or making sure the local utilities don’t shut the lights off at home anytime soon, developing new alternatives to fossil fuels and reducing carbon ozone emissions may be lofty goals.

But to take a second look at what we purchase and what we throw away isn’t asking all that much; and what better time to start than on Earth Day? And if you’re still unconvinced, or want the complete rundown of what is and is not recyclable or where to take them, give Jennifer a call at BCSWMD; she is nice and they can be reached 8-4 Monday through Friday at 483-0687.

© 2012 Eric Walker Williams