Earth Day Musings

My restorative view at Pinochet State Park in PA.

I love Mother Earth. Sometimes I feel huge guilt driving a gas-guzzling RV, but I assuage that guilt by mentally calculating that my carbon footprint in other aspects of my life probably (hopefully) reduce the unavoidable stomp that comes with driving a 10 mpg vehicle. Kind of like stepping on flowers but harvesting organic veggies....

For the other parts of my life I try to be earth-friendly: recycling (though not as passionately as Sr. Paula, my high school English teacher does), using earth (and people) friendly Shaklee cleaning products, skimping on use of water and electricity (sometimes not by choice), and consuming only what is necessary. I know it's not enough, but I'm growing better each day.

But a couple environmental issues/topics continue to vex me:

1) Plastic bags. I hate seeing plastic bags blowing in the wind or hanging like ghosts on tree branches. I've been annoyed for decades by our collective inability to manage plastic bags. But, what's the deal with the big plastic bag bandwagon that only goes as far as grocery bags? What about other, less flexible products like those impenetrable plastic product protectors that require a stick of dynamite to open ( could go on and on...)? And what are people supposed to use to securely toss their garbage?

2) Recycling. Why do some places have mega recycling efforts and some places have none? Campgrounds would be a prime example relative to where I am now. I am happy to find the only small propane canister recycling bin here, but no other recycling opportunities are visible. And I've been storing up waiting to find one. Yikes!

As I listen to the peaceful sounds of nightfall,
sitting here surrounded by trees much older than me,
feeling the energy from the nearby lake,
I'm grateful for the opportunity to find a state park to spend some time in that offers such beauty....

I look forward to spending time getting caught up on work, but also getting refreshed by the gift of nature that surrounds me. I hope we can protect what's left of Mother Earth's precious offerings.

How Hard Can This Be???

Recycling.
It can't be that hard, and if you ask me it's a possible job opportunity for some harder-to-employ folks, but that's down the road.

For now, why can't this nation use its sophisticated, well, not sophisticated, just plain ordinary ability to RECYCLE?

Some states I travel have elaborate and comprehensive systems, the best being OR. Some states almost invite you to toss everything into one big bin, recycling be damned.

For a nation that needs to address some huge environmental concerns, I think we should get started with some baby steps. What's missing here? Political will? Public sentiment? Recycling bins that actually take stuff for recycling? Yup.