Sadness on Earth Day
I’m scared. I’m sad. I am incredibly concerned about this planet. On the eve of Earth Day last night I was hit over the head with the news that gas has reached $118 a barrel, that food prices are doubling and tripling worldwide, that rice is being hoarded and rationed globally (mainly in the East), and that our attempts at curbing the production of non-recyclable plastics with corn-based products are adding to hunger and starvation of millions. WHAT IS HAPPENING TO OUR PLANET?
Today on bbc.com, there is a discussion from every corner of the world about the rising prices people are either forking out for sustenance, or choosing to do without because they cannot afford it. “The price of food in Nigeria – especially grain and cereal – has tripled. This has put the average Nigerian in a precarious situation of either having to buy staple food at an unusually high price, or foregoing it altogether,” said Madukolu Tobechukwu of Nigeria.
“The prices of dairy products have doubled in the last nine months. The cost of bread, poultry and meat have also increased. Many households are experiencing difficulties in providing good and healthy food for the family table due to the increases in prices of fruit and vegetables,” Robert Busnac of Waihi, New Zealand wrote. “Finally fuel prices are spiralling adding to the already heavy burden. I think bad times are coming and it’s up to ourselves to grow food in our gardens and learn to live in a more environmentally friendly way.”
Both of the aforementioned are only the tip of the iceberg in terms of those whose suffering is getting worse day by day. While Westerners may not have felt the effects of global warming and the overall raping of our resources over the past few decades, we sure are now. At the gas pump and now at our supermarkets. And one thing is for sure, these are not problems that are going away any time soon.
One big issue is that one problem is aiding the other. The need for alternative fuel sources has given way to bio-fuel. Unfortunately, using corn and other natural means to make fuel is taking potential food sources away from the mouths of the hungry and into our gas tanks.
Catulo Perrucho of Toronto, Canada speaks my own frustration when writing, “These BIOFUELS ‘crops’ are a disgrace for HUMAN KIND – 30% of MAIZE production in USA for ‘fuel’? SHAME ON YOU! Feed the world’s hungry, please!”
Millions of dollars every five minutes are going into the war in Iraq. Thousands of women are undergoing elective breast augmentation surgeries every month. Americans are spending absurd amounts of money essentially killing themselves on cigarettes annually. Why can we not take a step back to reevaluate and realize that this money could CURE WORLD HUNGER if we put it in the right place? Why are we at war when our planet is dying and our people are living over the edge of poverty?
It boggles my mind.
Instead of ranting and raving for the remainder of this post, I will leave you with the following disturbing statistics as portrayed by artist Chris Jordan:
One million plastic cups, the number used on airline flights in the US every six hours.
32,000 Barbies, equal to the number of elective breast augmentation surgeries performed monthly in the US in 2006.
Two million plastic beverage bottles, the number used in the US every five minutes.
200,000 packs of cigarettes, equal to the number of Americans who die from cigarette smoking every six months.
8 million toothpicks, equal to the number of trees harvested in the US every month to make the paper for mail order catalogs.
11,000 jet trails, equal to the number of commercial flights in the US every eight hours.
426,000 cell phones, equal to the number of cell phones retired in the US every day.
106,000 aluminum cans, the number used in the US every thirty seconds.
410,000 paper cups, equal to the number of disposable hot-beverage paper cups used in the US every fifteen minutes.
60,000 plastic bags, the number used in the US every five seconds.
30,000 reams of office paper, or 15 million sheets, equal to the amount of office paper used in the US every five minutes.
125,000 one-hundred dollar bills ($12.5 million), the amount our government spends every hour on the war in Iraq.
Makes you think, doesn’t it? For more, check this out: http://www.chrisjordan.com/current_set2.php
HAPPY EARTH DAY 2008
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