I've been trying to think about the big life meaning of this internship. I don't really think I want a job like this- to me, it seems like I just bug people and they sign things to make me go away. I'm not sure if people are really understanding the key issues. I believe that the advocacy I am doing is actually missing a key step... Education. I'm not exactly sure how this could be carried out, but we need to really make people understand the faults of something before they can be convinced to make changes.
Sometimes, I feel that a lot of the reasons given for the ban don't barely scratch the surface of the problem. Plastic bags and the problems that they are causing for our environment represent a much deeper problem within our society. We relish in the notion of existing in a disposable world. Americans, who base a lot of their worth on materialism, are constantly giving up the old in order to get the new, whether the old was fully used up or not. It's frustrating to not just see this, but be part of this. It's frustrating that I'm aware of it, but have little power to stop it. Plastic bags show how humans abuse convenience, taking something that was meant to improve the world and using it until the opportunity cost is outrageous. This type of consumerism creates a vicious cycle; the more we get, the more we want. How can we ever be happy?
I keep thinking of the Simpson's movie, where the lake is so polluted and Lisa keeps trying to tell them. When the lake is so polluted that one more piece of trash will cause it to be an absolute hazard, the town finally takes action. But Homer, who doesn't have room in his head for anything besides what he wants, screws it all up.
Sometimes, I feel that a lot of the reasons given for the ban don't barely scratch the surface of the problem. Plastic bags and the problems that they are causing for our environment represent a much deeper problem within our society. We relish in the notion of existing in a disposable world. Americans, who base a lot of their worth on materialism, are constantly giving up the old in order to get the new, whether the old was fully used up or not. It's frustrating to not just see this, but be part of this. It's frustrating that I'm aware of it, but have little power to stop it. Plastic bags show how humans abuse convenience, taking something that was meant to improve the world and using it until the opportunity cost is outrageous. This type of consumerism creates a vicious cycle; the more we get, the more we want. How can we ever be happy?
I keep thinking of the Simpson's movie, where the lake is so polluted and Lisa keeps trying to tell them. When the lake is so polluted that one more piece of trash will cause it to be an absolute hazard, the town finally takes action. But Homer, who doesn't have room in his head for anything besides what he wants, screws it all up.
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