Every year we observe Earth Day by going to festivals and donating to organizations to support a commitment to work on causes ranging from going green to stopping pollution. “Woo hoo…. Earth!” While writing this piece, I burned electricity watching a commercial about the best dish detergent to wash the oil off ducks. Next commercial featured dune buggies racing through the desert. I’m so happy (whining).
That company is using the oil spill disaster that killed people and tons of wildlife to advertise a detergent that is made of chemicals that poison our waterways. Speeding through a beautiful desert spewing noxious fumes for the hell of it… really? Flip the script already! I’m still waiting to see the commercial about the detergent company at the detox center saying, “My name is ____ and I’m a polluter. I’m here to say that I’m going to stop.” Clap, clap, clap. “Watcha gonna do?” “Well, I can’t quit cold turkey, but I’m going to start by taking the diethanolamine out.” DEA is a foaming agent and a carcinogen. Suds don’t clean dishes. If the oil doesn’t kill the duck, the detergent will… painfully slow.
Some politicians want to cut, slash and burn the Environmental Protection Agency and gut the Clean Water Act. The EPA’s mission is to protect human health and the environment. To p-r-o-t-e-c-t … all of us. The CWA is the structure for regulating point source (discharging from a single location) pollutants into waters. I’ll stretch it, but those politicians want to allow certain people to kill us… but not softly, of course.
What is this reckless mad war on the environment? It is money. That’s it. It costs more to do it ‘like’ right. I don’t dig that notion. Raise livestock humanely and there is no need for high-priced antibiotics; grow organic and there is no need for expensive pesticides; keep chemicals out of detergent and there is no need for costly solvents to dissolve those ingredients. Voilà, I just made it ‘like’ right.
Each of us is an eco-tyrant. Our mere existence has an adverse impact on the environment. Most of us are mini-tyrants; just a small footprint on the earth. Many of us have ameliorated our impacts by doing ‘green’ things. We are the eco-warriors, rebels supporting the cause. Fight the power! Earth Day is about all of us and our future. We are the ones we have been waiting for to make the world a better place. “… for you and for me…” It’s not hard or expensive to do the right thing. Just don’t walk down the aisle reeking from the perfumes obscuring the smell of those poisonous detergents. Make your stuff at home. Turn off the lights. Put the trash in the can. Done!
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