Sometimes the entire environmental movement seems like one large Catch-22. The things I want to do, I can't do and the things I don't want to do, I have to do. Okay that makes very little sense. But here's how it goes:
Composting is good for the environment because it reduces the amount of stuff in the landfill and adds nutrition to your garden. I don't have a garden, however, because marmots invade and eat it. In fact, they dig under the compost bin and eat the compost, then knock down the "door" of the bin and march out. So why compost when I can throw watermelon or cantaloupe rinds or banana peels at the marmots? Those crazy rodents think it is a win-win situation. But will my neighbours appreciate my attracting rodents? Probably not.
So, let's not compost things ... I'll grind them up in my garbage disposal. Oh, that takes my peels from the landfill to the water reclamation plant (aka sewage plant). This is not going well.
Maybe I could just dig a hole in the flowerbed and hide the peelings. Hmm ... the shovel has disappeared, and if I could find it, I would probably strain some muscle attempting to get deeper than about two inches. Did I mention the marmots also eat most things in my flower beds? The neighbourhood deer like tulip bulbs too.
Then there's the whole question of water in this dry Okanagan valley. We have the weather for growing things (if you get the wildlife out of the picture), but our water utility wants us to conserve water. When we cut down on our lawn watering, the lawn dries up and is a fire hazard. When we reduce our overall water consumption, the water utility has to raise the water rates because they aren't making enough money. Catch-22.
Recycling ... there's a good one. We religiously save our cans, cardboard, newspapers, and plastic bottles and put them out by the curb every two weeks. We used to be able to include glass jars, but they tended to break and now it costs more than they are worth to ship them somewhere to be melted down. What to do with the empty jam jar then? Use it to collect the bacon grease and french fry oil, then close the lid and put it in the garbage? I think our landfill may just fill up with jam jars and grease.
I'd really like to bicycle to work. Unfortunately, I live at the top of a hill. I might be able to get to work, but I'd never get home. Sure, I could put the bike on the rack on the front of the bus that comes by once an hour, but ... the bus stops at the bottom of the hill. A solar powered bicycle might help with that, but they are several thousand dollars and I'm pretty sure that if I had a solar powered bike, the sun would go behind a big black cloud and I'd never get up the hill. So, those brilliant people who are narrowing the roads in my area with bike paths have no clue that I will never be able to use them.
What to do, what to do? The environmental movement is now able to guilt entire populations because no one (except maybe David Suzuki) can possibly do all the things that they suggest when they live in a small to medium city. We're not rural enough to have a small farm (and the marmots would probably move in and take over even more). We don't have a large enough population to have the recycling facilities for our household refuse.
Now there's an idea. Refuse. Just say "no". It works for 2-year-olds.
