As a new student at Fairfield, I was disheartened to read last week’s letter to the editor concerning the new reusable bags on campus. Fairfield’s efforts to green its campus will certainly be much slower than surer as long as there are students on campus who cannot be bothered to respect the Earth.
Is it really that absurd to carry a reusable bag with you? How much more effort is required to take a reusable bag with you or refuse a disposable bag at a store? Maybe a little thought (and a dollar) initially, but not much effort.
Disposable bags may be convenient, but how anyone can repeatedly use them without a second thought is beyond me. Each year Americans alone waste over 12 million barrels of oil and cut down 14 million trees to produce 100 billion plastic and 10 billion paper bags, according to the National Resources Defense Council. Additionally, plastic bags photodegrade, meaning they break down into smaller and smaller pieces over time, which eventually contaminates ecosystems. How these facts do not disturb more Americans is amazing.
We should live in a society where it is abnormal NOT to use your own bag. And if you do, not everyone is going to think you have gone green. What is so wrong with that anyway? It says that you are a responsible, conscientious person who happens to put the earth above his own thoughtlessness.
I become unsettled when people tell me that environmental activism or the earth is my ‘thing.’ The last time I checked, the earth was everyone’s ‘thing.’ If someone were burning down your home and slowly using up everything inside, would you sit by and let him do it?
Recognizing that ”going green’is saving the environment’ is a start, but not acting upon this fact is foolish. There is a point at which laziness is simply unacceptable, and we can only mitigate the effects of global warming if everyone does his part. I’m not a tree-hugger, an environmentalist, or a green monster. I’m a citizen of the earth, as is everyone else. The problem is, why can’t we all act the part?
There is a Chinese proverb that says, ‘The best time to plant a tree is 20 years ago. The second best time is now.’ We live at a crucial time in history and should feel empowered to make a difference today for the sake of our planet tomorrow.
Is Fairfield University’s push to go green worth it? You bet your home it is.
Sincerely,’ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘
Zachary Gross ’12
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