Tuesday, March 19, 2013

Leave a mark, or don't

I needed some zone out time this evening so I decided to watch an episode of Criminal Minds. The very last line of the episode was this:

“What we do for ourselves dies with us. What we do for others and the world remains and is immortal.” 
Albert Pine

Now, this could be taken two ways... the first part, what we do to ourselves is gone when we're gone, fine, however what we decide to do for others is what will be our legacy. Is this going to be a positive legacy or a negative one?

I've had a huge appetite lately and today I wanted sushi from our school cafeteria. When I went over there I remembered that the school packages the sushi in a quite large plastic container, complete with a plastic bottom and plastic lid. It occurred to me at that moment, if I buy this sushi I will be supporting plastic. I will be telling the company, through my actions, to make more plastic. I refuse. So does that mean I can't eat sushi for lunch? Yes, that is exactly what that means.

I live on an island with no organized plan to deal with trash. This photo was taken less than 20 minutes from my house...


Disgusting, right? Well, where did all that trash come from? People like you and me. People that justify their decisions each day, like, I am really thirsty and I forgot my refillable bottle, so I'm just going to buy a water, this once... Companies will respond if we put up a fight. Consumers have the power.


Make your vote count. You know what company pisses me off? lululemon. Now I could see paying a super overpriced amount for clothes that were responsibly made in the US, by people that are not enslaved and working under ridiculously inhumane conditions, but their clothes, which cost a ton of money are made in third world countries and exported to the US. Blood clothes. Seriously, it's $80 for a t-shirt? Ok, I'd be willing to pay the extra money, if the shirt was made responsibly. You can purchase US made clothes, you just have to inquire. Here's an article by CNN that lists resources of stuff you can buy. And while I'm at it, don't you have enough stuff already? What are you buying stuff for? Does stuff make you feel better? Why are we consumed with stuff?

Let's leave this world better than we found it.

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