Environmentally Friendly and its different faces

So much is made of being environmentally friendly. If someone buys a SUV they're branded as being cruel to mother earth, unless it's a Hybrid of course. But buying new energy efficient stuff doesn't necessarily mean that mother earth is better for it. The manufacturing carbon footprint of Hybrid vehicles is enormous as compared to regular gas or diesel vehicles. And what happens to the batteries in the Hybrids when they need replacing? Keeping an older model car in tip top shape will keep it from the landfill; stop you from buying a new vehicle; keep your hard earned money in the bank!

Plastic - a quick history

Can you imagine life without plastic? From it's first inception in 1862 by Alexander Parkes, plastic has taken on many different forms. All these forms come into contact with us on a daily basis. Just take a look around you there is plastic everywhere. Imagine back to the old TV sets and old stereo consoles of the 1950's and 1960's. All of these were housed in wooden cabinets. Today all these components are housed in plastic and metal, saving trees but still causing lots of pollution. Look inside of all new automobiles, plastic is everywhere. In the medical field plastic is used extensively. Disposable sterile plastic syringes ensure no transmission of disease. Plastic gloves keep germs from passing one to another. Since the 1980's plastic lenses for eyewear gave the wearer more protection and less weight on the nose. Soft contact lenses exist only because of the development of plastic. Underground sewer and drain pipes are made from plastic. In fact plastic can be made so resilient that it not only won't rot and decay but it can withstand high pressure and high heat as well. Copper pipes in home plumbing are often replaced with plastic. This blog is too small to cover all the usefulness of plastic. I just wanted to hi-light some areas before I start to look at the negative impact that plastic has on our earth.

The 3 R's - REDUCE REUSE RECYCLE

The 3 R's of reduce, reuse and recycle may be a bit of a "cliche" but their value is even more important today than it ever was.