The Story of Stuff

I'm not sure how China is doing on environmental issues these years. I heard they have been more aware of it, and have been improving on air pollutions, conserving woods... etc.

Anyway, I got an e-mail from my cousin A yesterday. And checked out this website she forwarded me right away.

www.Storyofstuff.com

To sum it all: We should all do our parts in saving the mother nature, so our kids (can't even think about "grand kids"... ) still have places to go fishing when they grow up!

As a "foreigner" in this country for the past 5 & half years, I'm pretty proud of myself doing almost everything very "environmentally".

1. I don't have a car. I take public transits (though I'm thinking about getting a Toyota Prius these days to survive in L.A....)
2. I don't shop/buy a lot of new outfits (of course I lost control sometimes, thank GxD, the U.S. has the greatest return policies in the world. Or you can always sell it to a 2nd hand store for a bit cash and some conscience back).
3. I don't have an i-pod, blackberry, i phone, updated new electronic equipment every year (however, I did finally "upgrade"my cell phone I had used for 5 years to a camera phone last month... Hahha. Very happy).
4. I recycle everything I can and encourage (or nag at) my husband to do so.
5. I turn off the light every time I leave the room, even though I know I'm coming back in a minute and encourage (or nag at) my husband to do so.
6. I don't buy or keep chemicals in the house (all my cleaning products were passed on from the previous apt. owner). You can simply find out a lot of alternatives we used before 1950's. Hot water and vinegar, hot water and newspaper, hot water and lemons... etc. And, yes, "Windex" is definitely not the most effective product when it comes to window cleaning or dealing with a pimple on your face (if you don't get this one, refer to the movie "My Big Fat Greek Wedding").
7. I don't use hair gel, mousse, perfume. I don't do manicure or pedicure. Because I'm allergic to any chemical or aerosol products (I do use deodorant though. And I think everyone who takes public transit should do so. You can be NOT pretty, but can't be stinky).
8. I try to bring the shopping bags every time I do grocery shopping (I admit sometimes I got lazy or forgot about it. And the U.S. didn't ban the plastic bags like Taiwan, San Francisco or Japan, so I don't have to pay for plastic bags. Yeah~).
9. I recently start doing compost, simply hoping my herb garden in my balcony would grow better. Sure, it smells sometimes. But you'll have "organic" herbs in your dining table. Yum yum.
10. The list goes on and on...Blah blah blah...

Sometimes I'll ask myself, do I do such things above for the sake of saving $$, for my allergy, or for the planet of earth. I guess it's more on the $$ side first. Then, after you get used to it, you'll find out your "happiness index" (plus health) actually raise higher when you semi-successfully escape from this evil capitalism-induced consuming propaganda. Even though my husband or I could have become millionaire some day (finger crossed, we'll never know...), I will still keep doing a better job on converse our resources in the world.

Why? It's simple. I just want my kids to have some places to go fishing when they grow up.