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.

Choosy Moms Choose... Convenience?

Apparently.

I have to laugh, because I know that there are people out there who KNOW my head flew off when that commercial came on. "The same great Jif taste in a convenient snack size that's perfect for dipping!" Oh look, there's my favorite word. So, let's check out this product: peanut butter that we KNOW is way too packed with sugar to be healthy, and even in the larger "home" container, it's in plastic... but now, it's in even smaller plastic. Because it needs to be convenient and you need to take it with you! I won't even mention the fact that there are 22 grams of fat in each tiny little pack.

(Oh, wait, I did. Oops.)

Now, a slightly more creative person, one who is - you know - choosy, might actually think that if you really need to take peanut butter out and about with you, that you can just take it out of the large jar already in you home and place it into smaller containers that can be, oh, I don't know, washed and re-used again another time? Well, THAT'S just silly, because, well, think about it... then you have to wash a knife or a spoon, you have to rely on that container finding its way back home, and THEN you have to wash that too! The horror! Who has time for THAT? By all means, let's pay more for the convenience of creating extra garbage. We don't have enough of that in the world. Who wants to take the extra time to plan a lunch, or a snack? The awesome people at the J. M. Smucker company have taken care of the pesky details for you, because of course they care SO much about YOUR time and YOUR well-being.

We're not moving forward with any of this. All I see are more conveniences popping up all around, because we sure as hell don't have time to do anything once we have brought the kids into the world. And we can't stop and do what really is the right thing. Just keep going. Keep shoving the kids into the SUV's and shoving the fat-packed fast and convenient crap into their mouths. Because that's how we support a successful, viable, sustainable future. Yep, we are definitely heading in the right direction here. Get the jelly packs in separate plastic containers and pack the bread in individual plastic Ziplock bags, because you wouldn't want anything to get soggy or anything to touch anything else until right before you eat half of it and throw the rest away...

Yeah. We're definitely progressing.

You Got Your Garbage in My Almond Butter!

Just one more example of sliding backwards. One step forward, two steps back. I would be wholeheartedly for this product. In fact, I'm sure it's an awesome healthy thing. Almond butter instead of peanut butter. Yum, good, fine, wonderful. Whatev's. But please sell it in a wonderful glass jar, you know, the way peanut butter used to be sold before greed and convenience really caught hold?

But, alas, no. We need even more convenience than plastic jars. We need on-the-go, super-spiffy wonderfully convenient, single-serve SQUEEZE packs. I wish I was kidding. Can someone please explain this to me? Can someone let me know why this is even a product we "need" in our lives? Is it so much to have to think ahead and pack a little cup of this stuff from the larger jar at home? Are we so far gone we can't think around THIS? Do we really need to add this kind of trash to the mounds out there? Do we need to applaud the amount of resources it takes to manufacture and fill these stupid little things? Do we have to be able to whip our almond butter out of a cute little pocket? Do we need to teach our kids to get used to these things?

Apparently.

I got nuthin' for this one. Just... and I know, I am the one introducing them to y'all... boo for me, I really did wrestle with that one, but I feel the evils of the world need to be seen so we can recognize them for what they are. "It's just a little thing.. no big deal, G-Dub." (my new nick-name!) But, these are ALL little things that add up in a big way. But back to the "just..." Just DON'T buy them. And when you see these things, maybe take some names and maybe spend a few minutes a week tossing off an e-mail to these companies, saying, "We don't care for these irresponsible products." It could help.

Maybe not. Sometimes, I think we are too far gone. Give me some hope, someone. I'm fresh out and they don't put that in a super-slick squeezee-pouch.