The 3 R's: reduce, reuse, recycle + reinvent= success
I've been reading an innovative book called 'Cradle to Cradle' which speaks about how our attempts to be eco-friendly are fallible. You can buy vintage clothes which have been previously worn but it's not really 'helping' the environment: you are just prolonging the life of one article of clothing. Sooner or later, it'll end up as a rag for the Formica tabletops of McDonalds and then into the landfill it goes. We all know this. We all know that we either use styrofoam cups aod suck out all the oil in the depths of the earth and let them sit in the landfills for centuries, or use paper cups and kill trees. So what shall we choose? To destroy water, tree or earth? Hm. Tough decision. We are not recycling where computer paper can return to its original state: white virgin paper. Rather, it is 'downcycled' into newsprint (which I use for life drawing) or newspapers etc. When I was reading that book, I realized how much power designers have in the lifestyle and health/well being of consumers. I realized how dangerous everything we own is and how poorly designed they are without the slightest intentions for them to last. I was just looking at my can of varnish so I can apply a layer once my stain soaks into the wood of the picnic basket. Oh my goodness... this is what it says "CAUTION CONTAINS ALIPHATIC HYDROCARBONS... Reports have associated repeated and prolonged occupational exposure to solvents with permanent brain and nervous system damage. WARNING. This product contains a chemical know to the State of California to cause cancer and birth defects or other reproductive harm."
Wonderful. It sounds like a cigarette in liquid form.
Yet nothing is to be done about these harmful chemicals and oil guzzling SUVS and houseware. Every time I'm downstairs at RHCBC, it really depresses me to see all the styrofoam cups that they use for refreshments. Drink, toss. How easy it is to consume- in a matter of mere seconds to the price we have to pay in making these negative choices. Of course I am not perfect, I use styrofoam everyday because our caf is too cheap to use real cutlery and plastic plates.
So why isn't anything being done about this? Because we just want to settle for less. Honestly. We look at the world now and see how poorly we have taken care of it, and carry on our destructive ways, thinking either 1) there's nothing to be done because there are no solutions or that the solutions are too far beyond us and sooner or later, technology will save us. 2) push it far back in our heads and pretend that everything is just going to be just fine.
Yet since the beginning in Genesis, God has told Adam and all of mankind to take care of the earth.
The LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it.
There are many passages within Psalms (known for its more emotional methods of praising God) where nature is revered and God's power celebrated.
Psalm 24:1 The earth is the LORD's, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it
Psalm 50: for every animal of the forest is mine, and the cattle on a thousand hills.
11 I know every bird in the mountains, and the creatures of the field are mine.
Psalm 104: this one is good overall in glorifying the beauty of nature.
If the body is a temple for the Lord, so is the earth and all that dwells upon it. If the body must be sanctified, pure, clean and holy, so should the earth. For if the earth is polluted, pilfered and vile, then in the end, will it not affect our lives and our health?
But it is extremely difficult. The 3 R's: reduce, reuse, recycle. I think a fourth one should be added: reinvent. For our pathetic attempts to reduce the amount of waste is amounting to very little. To make a great difference, you first must have to pay a great price. We must get to the root of the problem- to the very nature of how objects have formed, the materials they are using: are they sustainable? If not, can we create a new material that can be recycled to its original form without losing its substance or quality? I think the book, Cradle to Cradle, handles this issue very well: the book itself is not paper, but a higher form of plastic which is 100% waterproof (yay, reading in the bath.) and when the book is to be disposed, the inks can be wiped off with special machines and reused. I say, Genius! Of course, this takes much innovation, research- where science (function) must join with art (form). For one cannot forgo aesthetic value (yes the eco-books you see with its humble worn brown recycled paper that easily rips) nor the key issue of environmentalism. Form should now follow function, form and function must go hand in hand.
Wonderful. It sounds like a cigarette in liquid form.
Yet nothing is to be done about these harmful chemicals and oil guzzling SUVS and houseware. Every time I'm downstairs at RHCBC, it really depresses me to see all the styrofoam cups that they use for refreshments. Drink, toss. How easy it is to consume- in a matter of mere seconds to the price we have to pay in making these negative choices. Of course I am not perfect, I use styrofoam everyday because our caf is too cheap to use real cutlery and plastic plates.
So why isn't anything being done about this? Because we just want to settle for less. Honestly. We look at the world now and see how poorly we have taken care of it, and carry on our destructive ways, thinking either 1) there's nothing to be done because there are no solutions or that the solutions are too far beyond us and sooner or later, technology will save us. 2) push it far back in our heads and pretend that everything is just going to be just fine.
Yet since the beginning in Genesis, God has told Adam and all of mankind to take care of the earth.
The LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it.
There are many passages within Psalms (known for its more emotional methods of praising God) where nature is revered and God's power celebrated.
Psalm 24:1 The earth is the LORD's, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it
Psalm 50: for every animal of the forest is mine, and the cattle on a thousand hills.
11 I know every bird in the mountains, and the creatures of the field are mine.
Psalm 104: this one is good overall in glorifying the beauty of nature.
If the body is a temple for the Lord, so is the earth and all that dwells upon it. If the body must be sanctified, pure, clean and holy, so should the earth. For if the earth is polluted, pilfered and vile, then in the end, will it not affect our lives and our health?
But it is extremely difficult. The 3 R's: reduce, reuse, recycle. I think a fourth one should be added: reinvent. For our pathetic attempts to reduce the amount of waste is amounting to very little. To make a great difference, you first must have to pay a great price. We must get to the root of the problem- to the very nature of how objects have formed, the materials they are using: are they sustainable? If not, can we create a new material that can be recycled to its original form without losing its substance or quality? I think the book, Cradle to Cradle, handles this issue very well: the book itself is not paper, but a higher form of plastic which is 100% waterproof (yay, reading in the bath.) and when the book is to be disposed, the inks can be wiped off with special machines and reused. I say, Genius! Of course, this takes much innovation, research- where science (function) must join with art (form). For one cannot forgo aesthetic value (yes the eco-books you see with its humble worn brown recycled paper that easily rips) nor the key issue of environmentalism. Form should now follow function, form and function must go hand in hand.
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