In the movie Sex, Lies, and Videotape, Andie MacDowell plays a character who has to go into therapy because she is obsessed by all the garbage out there, floating around on barges and overflowing the landfills. I'm pretty sure they based that character on me.
I can get pretty worked up worrying about the environment, and about how the little eco-sins we all quietly commit get horrifically multiplied by the millions of people who live in the United States or the 6 billion people who live on this planet. Some days I just quietly wring my hands; other days I truly feel panicked.
Take something simple. Harmless, even. Say that every US citizen chews just one piece of gum and spits it on the ground. At first it seems like a tiny little speck of pink, but imagine all 300 million chewed pieces into one spot, and you've got yourself an enormous sticky mess. (Ever been to New York City? What do you think all those black spots on the sidewalk are?)
Consider something not-so-harmless. Say that every US citizen buys and uses one gallon of bleach. They use it to brighten whites, eradicate tough stains, and return the sink to a pristine condition. That's 300 million gallons of bleach poured out into the environment. That's about 15,000 backyard swimming pools filled up with nothing but chlorine bleach. It's hard to see the harm when it's drizzled one quarter cup at a time into the washing machine, but when you add it all up, it's pretty scary.
I like a clean house. But I like a clean world too.
