Do you like Chinese food? We do. We visit our favorite restaurant a couple of times a month. I always feel somewhat chagrined, though, when they bring out my plate of sesame chicken. There is so much meat on that plate, I figure it could feed the average Chinese family for a day or more. They would just add more vegetables and rice, and be fine.
I guess I came to "green" through the "frugal" door - you would be surprised how often the two go together. I'm all for "reusing" and "recycling", but how often do we forget the "reduce" part of the saying? What does it matter if an item is in a recycled container, with 30% less packaging, let's say, if you just don't need it? Some sort of factory had to make that product, with it's packaging, expending resources in the process. It didn't magically appear in the store - likely a large truck burned a lot of gas to get it there. And what will happen to the item it replaces? Landfill? More and more lately these questions are a part of every buying decision I make. The less I buy, the less I have to recycle and reuse.
The obesity statistics in America are alarming, but I think that obesity is only a symptom of a larger problem. We just want too much, we mistake wants for needs, we want it all right now, and are willing to go into debt to get it. But what happens to jobs if we all were to just stop buying so much? It's just a big upside-down mess.
I think next time we go to Jade Garden, we'll just split a plate. I don't really feel like eating.
2 comments:
You are so right, we have had so much for so long that it really hurts when we have to do without the exact thing or amount that we want, and you are right again that the difference between want and need,in a lot of cases,is a large divide.
Keep it coming, we need to think on these things.
I finally got signed up to comment. Ha
John Muir said, " "When one tugs at a single thing in nature, he finds it attached to the
rest of the world." I guess that could apply to most anything.
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