“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.”
-Margaret Meade
As a community, we have an obligation to address health and wellness in ways that may not be apparent to every citizen. The footprint we leave to future generations depends upon what we adopt and accept today. If home truly is where the heart is, it will take a group effort to make Maysville a benchmark community for the improvement of attitudes and behaviors toward long term sustainability.
Mindfulness is at the forefront of sustainability efforts. How do our daily practices place us closer to or further from the health and wellness of our community? It is not a few people making grandiose gestures that will change our outcome but every citizen making small decisions collectively over time.
The ‘greatest generation’ reused and recycled out of necessity. The rations were small and resources scarce. In a world that seems to service immediate gratification and modern convenience, additional efforts don’t seem to be rewarded. In an effort to create convenience, and revenue, items of excess end up in our landfills.
Placed in perspective, a movie or theatre ticket will take approximately 2 weeks to decompose. An orange peel will take approximately 6 months to decompose; a milk carton 5 years and a plastic bottle 450 years. Recycling is important however, a reduction in the consumption of products that are not environmentally friendly is even more so. The lifecycle of plastics varies from 20 years (a plastic grocery bag) to 500 years (coffee pods).
According to the 2017 Census Report, Mason County’s population is 17,174. If every person drank two sodas or bottled waters per day, think of the amount of plastic consumed in a week (120,218 bottles). If they did so every day for 365 days, that would equate to 6,251,336 bottles. The national average for recycling hovers at 30%. If 30% (1,875,400 bottles) were recycled, then 4,375,936 bottles end up in the Mason County Landfill. The decomposition of the trash we create today will remain for nearly 5 centuries.
This is only one example of overproduction and underutilization of consumer supported materials that have harmful long-term impacts to the planet. Styrofoam never decomposes. It can be recycled by melting and re-bonded for other polystyrene uses but once in a landfill, always in a landfill. Look at how many take-out boxes and school lunch programs use Styrofoam trays and plastic utensils every day. Now think of the amount over the course of a year that ends up in a hole in the earth at the expense of the taxpayers and the environment.
Again, it is not one or two people practicing zero waste. It is every person in the community understanding the impact of their small choices over time. Using a refillable water bottle, taking your own bags to the grocery store, refusing a plastic drinking straw at a restaurant, placing recycled materials in a recycling bin instead of a garbage bag destined for the landfill, using a refillable coffee pod, purchasing recycled paper products, letting your elected officials know that sustainability decisions are important to you, educating yourself and your neighbor, placing recycling bins in your church or civic organization, talking to your children or grandchildren about sustainability, planting gardens and trees; all ways that we can each participate in leaving our world better than we found it. This article is in remembrance of our friend and sustainability partner, Geno Manley, who left this planet better than he found it.
