Jean Eng Blog

After writing the last two posts on plastic straws and glass straws, it really started me thinking about things and our environment.

It seems like everywhere I turn, the “green” movement is becoming more prevalent in our society. Big name companies are jumping on the bandwagon by providing “green” line of products or you’ll see things labeled as “organic”. If you do any amount of web searches on this topic, you’ll begin to see inconsistencies in the information being presented.

Some things that are labeled “green” or “organic” aren’t necessary truly what those words should represent. I’d gotten into a discussion a few moments ago about this topic and there doesn’t seem to be any clear answers one way or another.

What spark it was seeing a set of these reusable utensils at the place I buy my kleen kanteen bottles that you can carry with you in your purse so that you don’t ever need to use any plastic utensils when dining out. To me, I think there’s a line between people who are being “aware” and those who are being “fanatical”.

But what I find disturbing isn’t so much that they sell this stuff or that there’s people out there who own and use it, what’s got me totally bothered is that I myself am thinking “where does it all end? When is enough actually ENOUGH?”

So one person buys a set of these utensils and stashes it in her purse. She goes to some deli and orders a salad for lunch to go (hold the fork) and maybe a bottle of water. Now, in this scenario, a “green” person probably would not be buying out, she would be bringing her own lunch in some reusable container and lunch bag along with her reusable utensils and of course her bottle of filtered water in her own container that’s a non leaching plastic.

She’s one person, trying to be somewhat eco-friendly. Imagine the millions of others who’s gotten used to and enjoys the modern conveniences of fast food and uses plastic forks, knives, spoons, and straws! Not to mention the sort of containers used to hold these food items. They all go in the trash when used.

Fundamentally, you can not force someone to care when their habits dictate otherwise. And just exactly how “green” do a person have to be in order to make any kind of a difference?

I guess the “difference” depends on your perspective. When thinking globally, I have a very hard time believing that things will change for the better anytime soon. And I also have a hard time believing that this new “green” trend isn’t just another phase we as a society are going through and big companies are lining their pockets with confused consumer cash by offering products that isn’t exactly what we thought it’d be.

It seems like this “green” movement is a never ending battle. I was driving on the highway during rush hour traffic this past friday afternoon and while sitting idled, I looked around. Cars as far as the eye can see, in front of me, behind me, in the other direction, all stuck waiting to move. I enjoy the windows down and the wind (often smog) blowing through my hair.

In that moment, it just struck me…….”THERE ARE A LOT OF @#$%^ CARS!!” That’s just in my limited view of the portion of highway I just so happen to be traveling on at that particular time. There are countless of other cities in the world with just as many, if not MORE cars…..all contributing their noxious toxic fumes into our atmosphere. I could in that instant pan out from my tiny perspective and see that I am just like a tiny ant in this sea of people and automobiles.

You really get a good sense of just how small you are in this world when you’re at the beach sitting there watching the surf roll in. You pick up a handful of sand and each grain slowly falls through your fingers and back onto the rest of the sand pile. We are like a grain of sand in time.

Anyway, I’ve thought about trading in my car and getting one of those hybrid vehicles but then I wonder if I’m really making a difference globally when my own car’s impact on the overall global environment is pretty insignificant or will I just fatten up some car manufacturer’s wallet again. I mean, people sell what the trend dictates if they want to make money.

Then I have issues with whether anyone out there really is telling the whole truth. I mean, seriously NO ONE can GUARANTEE something indefinitely. I mean, how many times have people in any kind of authority role say something was safe but then later have “discovered” that it’s not completely safe. Or something has ingredients that supposedly have caused cancer or other diseases or what they like to say “contributed to _____ (you fill in the blank)”.

There’s a difference between contributing to and actually being the main factor in causing disease or cell damage. NO ONE can for CERTAIN say that any one person is this way due to this one thing. And I don’t think anyone knows enough about everything to be able to say for CERTAIN that something is or is not harmful.

Sometimes I wonder if all the green movement is just another one of the “we’re #1″ mentality. Ultimately as long as you live in this society TODAY, you’ll sure to be impacted by some other school of belief or thought to influence your views on life and how you should live it. No matter what your own views are and sadly, 99% of those views are probably not even your own, there will always be some group advocating something that will be in alignment with your way of thinking, thus you believe and support their messages. It does not matter which side of the fence you sit on, someone, somewhere will be right there with you……

So who’s right? I often hear on tv or read somewhere that…”if everyone in the world would make this one change, we’d save ____ (fill in your cause of choice, ie $50 billion dollars worth of …). If everyone in the world would give me a dollar, I’d be a multi-billionaire! But that’s not happening unless you’d like to be the first to donate . Sometimes I think they say those types of phrases to guilt people into doing what they want them to do for their own “good” cause.

I honestly don’t know what to think anymore with any of this stuff. I’m just not sure I buy into the whole “green” thing these big companies seem to tote. I read their ingredient labels and there’s still funky stuff in their products.

And I think also that perhaps it’s not really my job to fix our world or our planet. Believing or even thinking that I can make a difference in our global environment just leads to more confusion and an overwhelming sense of impossibility when you look at the entire scheme of things and how you really can’t force someone to take on your views if it’s not something they themselves want to believe in. Trying to do so is well just a glutton for punishment and frustration.

I think that the perspective I HAVE to take in order to stay somewhat sane in this world is to mind my own business and take care of ME. The world is fill with billions of people with their own traditions, way of doing things, education level, and intelligence. People are swayed by whatever they come in contact with, if you can stay somewhat neutral and not be pulled one direction or another, perhaps you can avoid the “we’re better than you, we’re #1″ mentality too.

When it comes down to it, no one is any better than anyone else, we’re all just a tiny grain of sand on the beach. You can’t go green enough to make a difference in the global world but you can certainly make a difference in your own little world FOR YOURSELF!

I probably have more thoughts on this topic but my brain is fried for now…food time!