What we can do

We live in a difficult time. There are serious issues facing all of us even though many of us feel that these issues are either not of any great significance or are not our issues.

Planetary pollution, major environmental changes, declining resources, these are things that affect each and every one of us. Not only can each and every one of us do something about them, it is incumbent on us to do so.

It might not seem like a big deal to toss a truckload of scrap into the landfill. But when there are millions of people tossing truckloads of stuff into the landfill and when much of that stuff contains chemicals and compounds that will leach into the soil, ground water and ultimately into the food chain that nourishes not only us but our children, their children and their children, is might begin to look like a big deal.

It is incumbent on each one of us to be aware of these issues and do what we can to ameliorate them. We can be sure that we are not using materials known to be harmful. We can make the effort to separate shop wastes and make sure that it is disposed of properly. We can avoid using materials known to contain harmful components. And we can educate our customers who may be unaware of the hazards of some of these materials.

The idea that life on earth is like a big monopoly game in which he who has the most wins has resulted in a totally unsustainable system. It is not going to get any better unless we all participate in taking steps to correct the problems. Waiting for some magical technological solution is not going to work.

D.D.