This is my favourite hyperbole to use lately, and my sister and husband are getting concerned that there is some literal meaning behind it. Of course there is not, and I am not attending the full-stop journey to the Red Planet; however, there has been mounting frustrations in my daily observations, and I need to be real for a minute.
We have all mentioned in our posts and community conversations that we should not put down others for their choices or non-choices, and that we can only focus on ourselves and our own actions. We have mentioned that we are not here to preach to others and make them feel bad for their lifestyles. We have mentioned that we must not judge.
Can we be real? The fact is we are a judgemental society, whether we are consciously aware or ignorant of it. It sucks, yes. Can we avoid it? I don’t know. I consider myself to be a good person; I like to make others feel happy, and to help them when they are unhappy. I also spread this message that we must not judge others for their own choices; I even teach this to my students when events arise in which they are being disrespectful or judgmental towards each other. Am I completely guilt-free? Absolutely not.
What am I saying? I am troubled. I am troubled because so much of what you do makes my blood boil, and fuels my frustration. So much of what you do makes me shake my head in disappointment. Do you care? Of course not. You don’t even know me.
It troubles me that you leave your sprinkler on for ten hours like it’s nothing.
It troubles me that you buy bottled water and throw the bottle in the trash.
It troubles me that you think it’s okay to throw your cigarette butt on the street.
It troubles me that every day you use a new Ziploc bag for your sandwich.
It troubles me that you buy more than you will eat, and then you throw it out.
It troubles me that you say you have no time to change your habits.
It troubles me that you say you do not have enough space to recycle.
It troubles me that you bag your bananas.
It troubles me that you knowingly purchase a Timmy’s coffee every morning, yet you refuse to incorporate a travel mug into your routine.
It troubles me that you think you are exempt from your environmental responsibilities.
It troubles me that you point the finger at others, yet are unwilling to change any of your own habits.
It troubles me that you only live for today, and do not care how you hand the planet off to your descendants.
It troubles me that you say, “Well, we’re doomed anyway,” like that somehow excuses you from doing anything about anything.
It troubles me that you are out of tune with the planet.
It troubles me that it does not trouble you.
The “you” I refer to is not one particular person; this is based on endless observations of others. More and more people are standing up, using their voice, and using their power as consumers to change their habits and speak up for change. What are you going to do?
This is not meant offensively. This is meant defensively, because clearly the planet is not being loud enough for you to hear it.
The Zero Journey 
Ugh, I feel you. I was so frustrated when I saw two people throw cigarette butts out the window on my way to work today. Apparently even waiting to throw things into a garbage can is asking too much…
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It is so ridiculous!
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If it makes you feel less troubled, every time I go to the dump I rescue something and bring it home. I like to think of it as beyond zero waste.
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Man I feel you! Go get em’! Sometimes I just want to shake people and be like “STOP DOING THAT! It’s killing the environment!”
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Yes, and then we realize that would be socially inappropriate hahaha. But you are so right.
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Well I guess it depends what you mean by judgemental. Somethings have been judged to be wrong by society for a number of reasons. Like littering. If you drop your crap in someone elses space it causes trouble everything from spreading disease and vermin to causing upset. Opinions on the other hand if critical are possibly best not shared. But we all have to take responsibility for making judgements, having them made in our name, be able to defend those judgements and then uphold them. And if people insist on messing up the environment I am going to be very judgemental indeed . It’s wrong and it’s dirty.
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*It troubles me that you think you are exempt from your environmental responsibilities.*
I think that is a great sentence. Unfortunately we are growing up in a world that is detached from the environment. People don’t see the effect of their actions on the environment because we’re living in our houses in cities or small towns and even if we’re putting our trash in the trashcan instead of the street or bush, we don’t see how this causes trouble for the environment. Because the trashcan is emptied on a regular basis and we don’t see where the stuff goes. And on the nice sunny day at the beach, people wonder which idiots had thrown all that trash on the beach. It’s us. We are all responsible for this.
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Exactly. I guess it just comes down to ignorance, and that individuals value convenience over sustainability. I did not think that “Live for the moment” means “and don’t care what happens after that”.
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Love this! I can’t agree more, the amount of waste I see everyday is frustrating. Hopefully more and more people realize how precious our environment is and take more care of it.
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I hope so too! It’s all we’ve got!
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[…] have my doubts about this planet and its inhabitants (see my I’m moving to Mars post), but this lifted my spirits beyond expectation, and then I knew that at least three young […]
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