Workable Solutions

Three-hole punch holes are a bother to recycle. The first time I recycled the menaces, they scattered themselves across the floor, after I dumped the office paper recycling bin into the street recycling bin. This time, I used a different plan of attack. Not wanting to use staples to secure them into sheet of already recycled paper, I opened up a magazine we were recycling and then emptied the three-hole punch. Of course, the static of the glossy paper was not enough to trap the holes inside, and they quickly scattered across the floor, again.

It reminded me of a topic covered in my Environmental Issues class from this past semester. We talked about the idea of sustainable solutions. What makes a solution to a problem of waste or pollution or any sort of environmental degradation sustainable? Since everything from Escalade Hybrids to redecorating your home with fake plants is sold as “greening” your life, this avalanche with hues of green makes differentiating the “green washing” from the sustaining very difficult.

Going Green is great but only when it digs down to find the problem and develops a solution that stops the problem. Solutions that just paint the problem green are not actually sustainable. To me, a nation that has a major car company crashing because of fake solutions, an ongoing health care crisis because of avoiding facts, and an increasing problem of climate change while ignoring warning signs, is a nation that is in need of fixing.

The problem reminds me of a poem that was said by the speaker at my college’s baccalaureate service. While it is religious in nature, it speaks to the whole idea. It puts the ideas of different social issues into a simpler context, and makes me think about our commonality.

I was hungry,
and you formed a humanities club and discussed my hunger.
I was imprisoned,
and you crept off quietly to your church and prayed for my release.
I was naked,
and in your mind you debated the morality of my appearance.
I was sick,
and you knelt down and thanked God for your health.
I was homeless,
and you preached to me the spiritual shelter of the love of God.
I was lonely,
and you left me alone to pray for me.
You seemed so holy, so close to God, but I am still very lonely, hungry, and cold.
- Anonymous

Avoiding solutions creates more problems.