Another holiday, another stream of waste by-products. Sigh. Greeting cards, wrapping paper, boxes...The piles of red-colored garbage looms in my nightmares.
(And if you thought diamonds were bad, did you read the
recent cover story in National Geographic on the human and environmental implications of gold mining? Um, bling is bad, kiddies.)
If I sound un-romantic, that is far from the case. I'm just in a long-term relationship with the planet and, once you get into that mindset, it's kind of difficult to not shudder when you open a present packaged in a totally unnecessarily overdone way -- or think of all those stupid greeting cards that play music -- and will never, never be recycled or see their batteries properly disposed of.
Talk about unromantic -- think about the waste generated by disposable latex condoms or the fish-affecting hormones that digested birth control pills add to the water system. Yeah, this is not pretty stuff at all...but I'm not here to feed you your romantic four-course meal. Just trying to get you to think.
With that said, yeah, keep using birth control. And some people are trying to make things better. Here's an interesting article about sustainable condom manufacturing in Brazil:
Condoms to Help Preserve Amazon Rain Forest.
In the meantime, all I ask is that, without neglecting your loved one(s) this Valentine's Day, remember to nurture the relationship you have with the world around you, and how every decision that you make impacts its future.
Writer: Kelli B. Kavanaugh
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