It's Cool, I'm Sure There's Another Planet We Can Trash

So, this whole BP mess- wow, what an understatement- has left me just exhausted, overwhelmed, pissed off, sad, I dunno, pretty much any other adjective that is related to not feeling good. Prior to the spill, Bobby and I had been trying to make conscious efforts to use far less plastic. Sure, we recycle- diligently- but really, in the end, it's better to just not use the stuff.

So, in the midst of biking more, cooking more from scratch, getting glass jars second hand at thrift stores to avoid plastic bags when purchasing from the bulk bins, making more bread from scratch, and looking into ways to replace household items like toothpaste and laundry soap with natural alternatives with no packaging- as in, baking soda, vinegar, old school alternatives- BP goes and shits all over the ocean.

And I mean, I am totally with that Margaret Mead quote, about not doubting the power of a group of committed people to make change and yadda yadda happy time optimism, but... man. I feel so USELESS constantly refusing things because they're in plastic- or any packaging, at all- and trying to walk more, and having our low flow shower heads, and utilizing our food to avoid waste, when in the grand scheme of things, oil is gushing non-stop into our Gulf, spreading to other areas, and, oh yeah, in addition to the huge plastic garbage patch twice the size of Texas in the Pacific, there are actually FOUR MORE HUGE FLOATING PLASTIC GARBAGE PATCHES- http://5gyres.org/ for more info. Gross. Gross. Gross.

This isn't about "believing in" global warming. You want something to "believe in"? Check out the destruction of the Gulf Coast. Listen to BP say they don't know when the oil will be plugged. Go google some pictures of the not one, not three, not even four, but five damn garbage patches that are floating in our oceans, the lymphatic system of our WORLD, the only world we HAVE. This isn't about some political scheme, or whether or not you like Al Gore or Greenpeace. Our trash, our waste, our excessive consumption, they're all very "real". It's not some Santa Claus conspiracy meant to dupe you into being green. Tainted water, terrible air, damaged soil, plastic filled oceans, and gushing oil aren't the Easter Bunny sent by liberals to "ruin America" by forcing it to go green. It's all happening, right now.

And it's so, so overwhelming to think of how far we have to go to even begin to remotely fix it. And I feel like my little contributions are laughable, or, at worst, not even a blip on the radar. I know we should all keep trying, but when it comes down to it, it can't just be consumers making the changes. Some of these changes have to start from the top down. We need to stop making crap that is meant to last forever, but be used once and thrown away. Companies need MORE regulations- yes, more, I know that means I hate capitalism and Uncle Sam- because quite frankly, when you have a liability cap at a laughably low level in relation to your profits- as oil companies do- what motivation do you have to drill responsibly? Oh, that's right, pretty much none.

I am so angry. I had to stop reading the news, because it was just horror story after horror story on BP, for so many weeks now I can't even handle it. We have got to get our shit together.