A few weeks into following social distancing and safer-at-home policies, I was doing my usual excessive scrolling of social media one day. Normally, I can pretty easily navigate the waters of polarized opinions and way-too-hot takes up and down my feed. But one tweet and the surrounding commentary set me off a bit.
Talking about the increased dependence we now have on carryout meals and the single-use plastic elements it takes to deliver it, someone had shared "Glad we didn't completely outlaw single-use plastics yet!" The sarcasm and personal annoyance was clear -- here's someone who is tired of laws requiring us to pay for plastic bags or bring our own reusables, someone who isn't interested in transitioning to reusable silicon and metal straws, and who otherwise has no time for laws that nudge us toward greener living.
To some extent, as silly as I feel it is, it's simply partisan differences of opinion. Some folks don't think this stuff should be legislated and compelled by law and costs/fines. Ok, fine. I disagree, but fine.
Where you lose me is when you don't acknowledge the data relating to production-based pollution, facts about related pollution of oceans and waterways, and patterns of lazy overconsumption and excessive consumerist attitudes across big portions of society.
Another layer to this silliness is that some people with these perspectives do not make a distinction between emergency circumstances and everyday life. For example, widespread purchasing and consumption of bottled water is totally justifiable and necessary when a community is hit with a natural disaster like a hurricane or tornado or is facing a crisis of access like with leaded water in Flint. Similarly, people in emergent situations, like those who are homeless, should be provided bottled water to meet the emergent need of their thirst while they do not have stable access to clean drinking water from the tap. Or, take the current situation, where it is not safe for us to dine in on washable plates with washable silverware and napkins, etc., when we depend on plastics and styrofoam for carryout/delivery food. All of these are emergencies that warrant relaxations. But everyday life does not include these situations.
I tried to find some calm and perspective and spell this out in a neater package:
Some of the progress we have been making socially in green living is getting stunted. And in many cases, this is just fine. We need to be prepared to deviate from norms in order to protect ourselves and the common good.
When it comes to plastics, there are certain levels of usage that we just have to accept. It’s not safe right now to dine in and eat off washable plates with washable silverware, so the level of waste in carry-out will have to be weathered while we follow our rightfully imposed restrictions.
We do not have to write ourselves a blank check for total disregard of the environment, however. And we don’t have to sit back and lower our standards permanently.Read the full piece here at Grotto Network and check out my author archive here to read more of my work at GN.
Learn about your recycling program; clean and sort your materials for landfill, recycling, or compost; and do your small part -- it may not be huge in quantity but your knowledge, your example, and your subsequent conversations will move the needle in the right direction.
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