Consumption, on the surface, is not a bad thing. Without consumption there wouldn't be an America's Biggest Loser show on NBC. Mike Tyson wouldn't have a pet tiger. John Travolta wouldn't have a pet pilot. I am not opposed to any of that. That is not the consumption that I will be writing about.
I choose to focus on the effects of everyday consumption. Maybe help the peeps realize that their consumption has consequences. Put that slip 'n slide away, farmers don't have enough water for their cauliflower crops. Car pooling is a better form of social networking than Facebook. Just because you are having hot flashes doesn't mean we have to turn on the overhead fan. Look on the box of Hamburger Helper and see what the ingredients are before ingesting it. Modifying behavior could alter the world that we live in. Seemingly a simple solution. Not so fast my friends, because most Americans have become the Gordon Gekkos of consumption.
To improve current conditions, everybody needs to chip in. Your brother-in-law, your favorite parking control officer, the gap-toothed clerk at Taco Bell. Everyone. People need to buy into the concept that consuming less will aid others. That seems fair. Yet, folks are reluctant to make changes to the quality of their own lives. "As long as changing doesn't equate to sacrifice - I'm in." People have an aversion to dialing back. "Don't be messin' with my comfort levels." Come on people. We shouldn't have to twist your arm. There are infinite ways to help. Show up!!!
Americans should not be frightened by the solar panels coming out of Ed Begley Jr.'s ass. Rather than mock him, think maybe that he is on to something. Even if you think that using the sun for energy is anti-American, turn off a few lights in some of the empty rooms of your house. Rooms that you haven't been in since 1956. Think twice about hitting puree on your blender while your dishwasher and washing machine are running. Following that up; why don't you try and convince your neighbors that they don't have to use up enough energy to power Uganda with their Xmas decorations. Keep your porch light on. Santa will find your chimney.
You don't have to think that you are a member of Greenpeace by taking your own grocery bags into Von's. Take pride in telling the grocery bagger to "put the fruit loops in here." Saying no to plastic bags doesn't make you a Socialist; or worse than that a European. You might even save a dolphin from strangling itself. Flipper lives because of you. You can now sleep at night.
Avarice is not regional. California has been experiencing a drought for the past few years. Water usage guidelines were put into effect by the state. There were strict rules as to when you could water your lawn and bathe your matted golden retriever named Nixon. For about five minutes the citizenry showed some civic pride. A sense of duty. Then it rained for two days in February. The drought was then considered over by liberal and conservative Californians alike. Two days of drizzle had apparently replenished the snow packs of the Sierra Nevadas. Lake Tahoe was ready for jet skiis. Folks immediately went back to taking one hour showers and hosing down their driveways moving away leaves and discarded fast food restaurant menus. Sadly, predictable.
The right of passage in South Carolina is that every high school senior should get as a graduation gift an SUV. The bigger the better. When I was younger the only person that even had a station wagon was the alcoholic little league manager. Now all these kids head off to the beach driving vehicles that could house large circus animals. What about getting your kid a hybrid? Something that helps cut down on our dependency to support Middle-Eastern dictatorships. "Where does it say in the Constitution that I can't guzzle? Oh, and I don't like Obama either."
In NYC, Mayor Michael Bloomberg said that Big Gulps weren't exactly helping keeping its citizens away from future health issues. He might have opined, "that maybe if you weren't pouring down sixteen ounces of straight sugar into your throat - that hospital diabetic coma costs might have a chance of coming down." He was immediately thought of as an evil War Lord for making the suggestion that sodas should be taxed. "What's he going to do next? Tell us that smoking is bad for us too? Oh, and tell that Michelle Obama to shut her pie hole while you're at it. Don't want her telling my kids that they can't eat their twinkies either."
I wish that we could self-regulate all of this stuff. I had to spend years convincing my Dad to recycle. People hated to be told to buckle up their seat belts. They would rather have had their head smash through a windshield than be regulated. Maybe it is the fact that someone can purchase over six thousand rounds of ammo over the internet that I don't feel too optimistic about self-regulation.
In most neighborhoods they have a Ned. His house is continually lit up more than the Encore in Vegas. His front lawn is a flood basin since his sprinklers have been on since the first episode of Big Brother started airing earlier in the summer. He has two SUV's. His belly almost reaches his shoes and he has an NRA sticker on the bumper of his car. Unfortunately, Ned is America. He is the one that is allowed to roam where the buffalo can't. Unreachable to anything that seems to be a "cause".
Government is continually blamed for our nation's problems. I don't deny that government action and inaction have made a mess of things. But, governments don't throw Starbucks' cups out of a moving car. Governments don't tell you to run your a/c 24/7. Governments don't tell you to finish that last Chip Ahoy. Personal accountability can help point this country in a better direction. Start today. Consume responsibly. I have already. I drive a Prius and never liked Big Gulps. Not giving up my slip 'n slide though.
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