US Government endorsement of Earth Day a joke?
By heathcliff
@heathcliff (1415)
United States
April 23, 2008 10:42am CST
All day on 4/22, the television had special messages from politicians promoting Earth Day. Unfortunately, it was business as usual for one of the largest single polluters of our planet. Simple policies in every department seem to ignore the easiest of "green" ideas.
Please post your experiences so we can all know where to complain. My example is from the Post Office. A package was refused to be mailed yesterday at my local PO, just because it was packaged in reused Priority Flat Rate boxes. The packages were reused inside-out as a recycling measure and looked like any other cardboard box, EXCEPT to the "sharp-eyed" postal worker who noticed the material USED-TO-BE Flat Rate boxes. The PO returned it to sender without new instructions, wasting the time of the mail deliverer and the mailer, then lectured the mailer when they brought the package back, while the rest of us waited in line.
Your turn.
2 responses
@bobmnu (8157)
• United States
23 Apr 08
My favorite pollution from the government is the CO2 they release. They want everyone to cut down on CO2 emissions. They do not realize that when they stand up there and lecture us on what we have to do. All the time they are polluting with their CO2 emissions. If we vote some of them out of office think of the pollution we could reduce.
Seriously look at all the laws and regulations the create and the paper needed to do simple daily tasks. In education we were required sent out parent notification with every mailing of IEP paperwork. For an IEP we had to send out a notice of IEP renewal, IEP meeting notice, Invitation to IEP Meeting, and after the IEP meeting they send out the IEP. The parent notification is a a printed form that can be printed in 8 point font and if laid out right it will fit on an 11 x 17 sheet of paper using both sides. When you included this in the mailing it required extra postage. One parent brought in a stack (about 30) of them for us to recycle (reuse) that she had collected in the past 2 years. Unfortunately the policy makers at the state and federal levels change the wording every couple of years.
@heathcliff (1415)
• United States
23 Apr 08
I was thinking of CO2 emissions, too. From a serious viewpoint, there is too much unnecessary travel allowed for lawmakers, and think of all the waste each politician generates in their individual election/reelection campaign(s). On the lighter side, I remember the stories about methane emissions from cows being bad, but politician gas, from the mouth alone, has got to be worse!
Thanks!
@4ftfingers (1310)
•
23 Apr 08
Good idea!
I work in construction and there is so much waste its unbelievable. Big companies really need to improve their recycling policies. So much plastic and cardboard is thrown away, it would be so easy for them to just have separate skips for paper, wood cardboard etc and then another for all the plastic wrapping and waste plastic materials that are thrown away. And metals too, although certain metals are kept anyway because they are becoming more and more valuable, eg copper.
But nobody makes them do it so they don't bother. It's the same story for a lot of the big firms who could make the difference.
@heathcliff (1415)
• United States
23 Apr 08
Most companies I've worked for are too over-indulgent in "policy" to be open to ways that they could save money recycling or cutting back on harmful outputs. Government intervention has curtailed some pollution over the years but there is too much waste like you're saying and I don't think the government is going to be the savior. Every sensible businessperson needs to reevaluate their companies' waste and get rid of individuals at or near the top of industry who are unable to change their bad ways.
Thanks!
