How Often Does This Go Unnoticed?

Happened to catch this one in the news. But I'm willing to bet things like this happen all the time, we just don't hear about it.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2014/03/28/peanut-butter-landfill/7004653/ Nearly a million jars of peanut butter are being dumped at a New Mexico landfill to expedite the sale of a bankrupt peanut-processing plant that was at the heart of a 2012 salmonella outbreak and nationwide recall.

That's a whole lot of plastic in the ground. Unless you think they will scoop it out and re-use the jars. Yeah, that happens.

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A million jars. The article doesn't make it entirely clear why they could not be donated, as they were seen as fit for sale. We would rather toss them into a gaping hole in the Earth and cover them with dirt than donate them to a prison. I can only hope people will sneak out and dig some up.

A million jars. So much for recycling. Some future civilization will unEarth this trove and come up with some interesting theories. Maybe we should include a note, explaining our massive screw-up.

A million jars. I'm still trying to fathom.


Yeah, no. I can't. All I can come up with is that this is far from an isolated incident.

What do I suggest?

Nothing. I got nuthin'. I just had to share. This is what we do. THIS is humanity.

That's all. Gather your own rosebuds on that one.

Lies

This is from a mailer.

Look at it closely. It has lots of information right there.

You've seen them. You've gotten them. They are bubble mailers that are quite common. You know, the bubble stuff is fused to the plastic on the inside, providing nice protection for that book you mail that doesn't really need that kind of protection anyway.

Look at it again. It must be recyclable; after all, there's the symbol right there. And it's got those numbers there too. That means we toss it in the bin and it's all better.

To the casual recycler, this is all well and good. But think about this package for just a bit. Here's a small lesson in the recycling process.... those numbers are there to separate the different kinds of plastics. All the 1s go together, all the 2s, etc. Because they are different TYPES and will be handled differently. OK - cool, that's clear enough. So once everything gets sorted, away it goes. That's a whole other story, but for our purpose here, we'll Keep It Simple, Sweetheart.

So look again. There is a 2 and a 4 there. If you were holding the package, you would see this and understand that probably, the bubble part and the white outside part are the two different kinds of plastic. OK - cool, that's clear enough. But wait... this mailer is pretty much all one piece. The bubble stuff is completely attached to the outside part. Just a moment of thought should make anyone wonder how this would be dealt with in a recycling facility. How do they separate these?

Answer: they don't. YOU would have to pull apart the two different types of plastic, and even then, the bubble part is unlikely to have the recycling symbol on it, as it is stamped on the white part. So it's still going to just be trash, even if you put the extra effort into it.

So what am I saying? Stop using them? If you can. What I'm really pointing out, though, is the lies that are all around us. Just because it says something there on the package... nope. THINK about it.

And welcome to my head.

Jell-O Rocks

I'll make this quick: Jell-O is cool stuff. It's fun, it's yummy. It's versatile, you can do so much with it and make so much with it and hey, when you mix it with vodka, you got some awesome shots. One of my favorite things from grade school was when we had our little "olympics" and the cool thing was to bring a package of Jell-O and eat it dry like Pixie Stix. You weren't cool if heaven forbid you were without a box of Jell-O. Points for weird flavors.

That being said, if you feel you must buy it in these cups rather than taking the time to make it, do us all a favor, and

DON'T

EAT

JELL-O.

That is all.

Again, Less Plastic is Still Plastic.

Greenwashing on the grandest of scales. Using the argument that you should use this product instead of that one because this one has "less plastic, it's the smarter choice for the environment" is the equivalent of saying, "Smoke this cigarette, it only gives you a little cancer."

Yes, I am back on the K-cups. Those hated things. Honestly, they make those reusable filters for them, so the machines aren't evil... just the people who insist on continuing to buy the little plastic hell-cups even while we know better. Have you seen these new ones? Here ya go:

Cute, huh? They have a papery type filter as a bottom instead of being wholly made of plastic. Just that little top part. SO much better for the environment. Buy our coffee instead. Spend way too much, Go ahead. It's OK - it's less plastic.

It's STILL PLASTIC. And now, it's an even smaller bit of plastic which will never have any chance of EVER getting put through a recycling process - nope, it'll just end up in the ocean. Around a bird's beak, because it's a tiny little ring and it is perfectly suited to that. Or around a tiny baby turtle. Or a fish. Just floating around there in the environment, hurting maiming killing any innocent animal that comes along, because we have to have our convenient coffee. 

"It's the smarter choice for the environment." No it's not. It's just another different issue. And it's still plastic, it's still unknown chemicals subjected to boiling hot water and put in your beverage. The smarter choice is one of the many reusables they make that you can find pretty much anywhere. WIth your own tiny little scoop of coffee in it. They aren't difficult. And you SAVE money. What's the issue here? 

And I may punch my monitor if I see one more image of the idea that you can use K-cups to plant seeds. No one is using those that way in any quantity near where they are being used. Now you're just insulting my intelligence. No real human is actually doing that. Besides, everyone knows you use toilet paper rolls. :)