Choosing to be a green consumer in a convenience based market
By: Tegan Manzurek
-Staff Writer-
It is safe to say that oil companies have as much control over the American social and government systems as a puppeteer who controls his puppet. They have their sticky fingers in the everyday life of the average consumer. In our on-the-go worlds, it is easy to endorse the conveniences of fossil fuels instead of focusing on things that already weigh heavily on our minds.
There are long-term affects which cannot be ignored, no matter how hard we try to avoid them. In the last 20 years, the top ten oil spills have discharged more than 55,000,000 gallons into the oceans bordering the US. Oil spills make up approximately 5 percent of the oil going to the ocean. The rest comes from maintenance and industrial runoff, road maintenance and air pollution. The global community has created a sea of oil in the ocean communities and depend on for it economic and ecological value, a value which is quickly dwindling.
Oil spills result in more than the loss and trauma of precious and valuable marine and land ecosystems, it also means the loss of workers and equipment and damage to the health of nearby communities. This goes without mentioning the expense of “negotiations” with other countries about oil, the cost of chemicals to “clean” and cost of construction to the pipelines and oil rigs. The price of convenience and the American dream is the slaughter of livelihoods and poisoning of the natural world. Is it all really worth it? It is a question all consumers should ponder.
Americans have choices to make every day. In the big picture, each choice reflects upon the nation he or she represents as well as themselves. Every consumer can vote to be greener in their lives. Whether it is a choice between riding a bike or carpooling to work, purchasing local foods when possible, saving energy, protesting against the construction of oil rigs and destruction of the habitats that surround it, or checking off a box on a piece of paper; every vote makes a difference. No age limit or ID required.
