Our oceans are turning into plastic dumps

I've stopped buying anything in plastic if possible. Feels good.

BTW, you don't really think of yourself as a "liberal wastrel," do you?

http://www.bestlifeonline.com/cms/publish/travel-leisure/Our_oceans_are_turning_into_plastic_are_we.shtml

Parents don't wash diapers, they use massive quantities of disposables. And yet, they allow their children to continue peeing and pooping on themselves till the kids themselves decide not to do it anymore. Potty training at 18 months is passe ---- and that too is something we could return to in the interests of society and the planet at large.

On the other hand, it is sometimes difficult to know what the right thing is. I am a fan of books that were published about 15 years ago, entitled "the Tightwad Gazette", by a woman named Amy Dacyczyn, who extolled the virtues of thrift. Yesterday on the Jon Stewart show there was an author discussing modern slave labor in the global economy, whose take-home lesson was that if something is cheap and feels as though we are getting something for nothing, we probably are, and are probably guilty of exploiting third world workers for our own profit.

The best we can do, it seems, is to try hardest to make things simple, minimize consumption and be firm in that resolve. when the 18 month old cries and pits a fit about the potty, be firm. When the apples fall to 39 cents a pound, consider passing those up. And pay the illegal alien cleaning lady with two handicapped kids a decent wage.

We'll save it anyway on water and all of the other crap we finally decide we can do without.

And it feels. . .hmm. . .well. . .not so bad.

Our evident standard of living hasn't fallen any, honestly.

I put my name on the list for new books at the library and wait until my turn comes up. If we want to rent a movie, yup, library again.

No new clothes, but for my new volunteer work, which requires office clothes, I splurged and spent 9 bucks on Family Day at Goodwill and got 4 new blouses and a new skirt - all perfectly lovely, recent pieces from mid-range department stores. With my grup style, I look just fine in those blouses and my time-worn chinos.

I'm baking my snacks instead of buying them pre-made and premeasured. I've rediscovered my crockpot. I'm drinking less soda now and water comes from the faucet, not a bottle. Coffee is homemade and much better tasting, actually.

My DH is bringing his lunch to work instead of buying what's in the cafeteria. As a bonus, he's lost a couple of pounds and says he now looks at "those poor slobs" who don't have real leftovers with a bit of pity.

It's amazing how I'm managing to cut corners, and we're making it on one income. So much of my income before now, honestly, was wasted on trivalities that I didn't need.

Reform feels good. Liberating even.

Maybe the neo-cons should give it a try.

When I first started noticing Americans paying for plastic-wrapped water, I could not believe that people could be so dumb. Then I started noticing people voting Republican. Then voting for George W. Bush. Twice.

Sometimes the same people, sometimes not.

All of it, simply unbelievable. Unbelievable, and unbelievably dumb.

We can say that we serve, "Housemade Water," if we wish to be fancy, when we are taking the water from the kitchen faucet. And maybe we can serve, "Authentic Freerange Water," if we get it from the hose in the backyard.

And perhaps we can serve "Spicey Force-Fed Barbecued Pork," if we ever catch and fry our Current Occupant (maybe with some sort of Currant Occupant sauce).

"And now, if liberals can cut consumption of foreign water, then maybe conservatives can ..."

No, they can't. Not if the latest trendy tabloid research is to be believed: that the current crop of Americans calling themselves "conservatives" actually are not capable of taking note of that little venue that libruls call "reality" - and adjusting to it, learning from it, accepting it, and maybe even working to modify it.

Mr. Keillor expresses gratitude for learning he's been doing something wrong, or could do something better. Bubba Dittohead would not. Ever.

Current polls suggest that 25-30% of Americans are Dittoheads. Blinded by ideology, in their own world of Vast Rightwing Conspiracy-manufactured "facts." (Not yet measured are the number of leftwing Chomskites, but we can't assume there are none.)

What if half or more Americans are effectively blind to reality?

Bless you Garrison for writing about this.

Yes oil for Bottles, fuel for 250 trucks a day hauling over 1,750,000 gallons of water a day from our endangered No Fla Springs - all for the profit of Coca Cola/Dasani and Nestle'. At this time of one of the longest droughts in the Southeastern US Coke and Nestle' greedily take our water for their easy profits, and they want even MORE water permits. Meanwhile our water is desperately needed for sustanence, agriculture, and resupplying the state wide acquifer which provides water for both the drought devastated Everglades and citizens of So Fla. Wouldn't you know, Minimum Flow Level Data (determines number of water permits distributed for profit) supplied by a company under contract by local officials, turns out to be acting as a Water Broker for such multinational corporations!

Local groups such as OurSantaFeRiver.org and SaveOurSwannee.org

work very hard to inform both local citizens and elected officials about the importance of protecting our natural resources. Author Cynthia Barnett's book "Mirage-Florida and the Vanishing water of the Eastern US" has done a great service in detailing how Fla has managed to drain itself dry.

In North Fla, other groups such as the Coalition for Responsible Growth are challenging sprawling Developments that create environmental hazards and by creating public discussion about how Urban Sprawl signifigantly reduces quality of life issues. Whether it is by destruction of natural resources (water shed areas) or by ultimately creating insurmountable tax burdens by depleating local road maintenance funds for years by requiring new roads to support low density housing. Such sprawl/over development has devasted the watershed of the Everglades and serves to gut the water supply of No Fla as readily as bottling permits. Central Fla is now eyeing the rivers of No Fla hungrily and planning pipes to hydrate thier disastrous growth. Thus Coke and Nestle' will soon have competition. What all parties fail to acknowledge is that as the fresh water levels drop, salt water fills the void. So we will all lose eventually.

Remember that bottled water that seems so handy in the fridge has a story behind it, no matter the origin.

Ditch the bottle, and while you are at it, ditch the Coke and Nestle stock too!