10 Things I hate about…how we treat our world

On By Shayleene MacReynoldsIn travelblog

I’m about to annoy the hell out of most of you.  Personally, I don’t really care.

Three hurricanes and an (at least) 8.0 Earthquake off the coast of Mexico.

An entire Caribbean island has been wiped off the map.

Thousands of homes are under water, or clogged by sands.

This isn’t the world I grew up knowing.

So here we go…this is my annoying, liberal, hippy propaganda.  Because I want my children, if I ever decide to have any at all, to have a place to love and enjoy.  I want them to climb the same mountains I’ve climbed, to stare down in awe and wonder at the majesties of nature.  They should have something.

This is my PSA. Ten things you can do to make an actual, real, palpable difference.  And guess what?  They’re not that hard.  I’m not even advocating solar plates or vegan lifestyles.  Just small changes.  Habits.  Little modifications of daily routines please for the love of our very existence care about something other than yourself.

  1. Change your damn light bulbs.  I’ll even do it for you.  Ditch the incandescent for the fluorescent they consume a quarter of the energy.  Home Depot, OSH, Lowe’s, even the supermarket down the road has options. They’re not overpriced.  I’ll even Prime them to you.
  2. Turn off your shit when you leave your house.  That’s it.  It’s that simple.  When you go, the lights go off.  Do it.  Now.  And during the day?  Open the drapes, the curtains.  Use some natural light.  You don’t need a desk lamp at noon.
  3. Plant trees.  At every opportunity scatter seeds in the ground plant them everywhere let their roots soak deeply in the earth. One day, maybe far from now, but one day, we will need that oxygen.
  4. Turn off your water.  Don’t run it while you’re brushing your teeth.  Don’t leave it flowing while you wait for your shower to heat up.  Your car doesn’t need to sparkle every damned day of the week.  I mean, let’s be honest, it’s a heap of metal.  Who expects it to be clean?  Turn the water off.
  5. Recycle. Don’t be that asshole.
  6. Ride share.  Carpool.  This doesn’t work for everyone, I get that.  But try.  Like me?  I’m going to buy a bike and bike to work.  I’m extreme, though.  And a little hippie freak.  I’m not telling you to do that.  But, like, share a damned ride. Uber pool, my friends, Uber pool.
  7. Get your oil changed!  Fill your tires! Change air filters!  Your car needs to be healthy.  You need to be healthy.  The healthier the car, the less emissions.  Besides, it will cost you less in the end.
  8. Reuse your towel.  Sure, every Buzzfeed article teaches you all about bacteria that spreads when you reuse towels but when the apocalypse hits you have way more to fear than some damp fabrics sitting in your bathroom (like mass contagion and human virus???!). I’ve been reusing towels for decades and I haven’t caught sick in several years *knock on wood.  I’m not telling you to turn your underwear inside out and backwards and forwards but come on, chill on the washing.
  9. Eat less meat.  I’m not saying cut it out.  I’m not preaching I’m not PETA I don’t and never have condemned meat eaters.  Enjoy.  Bacon is the fruit of the gods.  But maybe, just maybe, you don’t need it every day?
  10. Paper towels are the devil.  There, I’ve said it.  But come on, just use a damned dish towel.  Or, if you must have paper towels, buy some made from recycled fabrics.  Like, they’re a dollar more at the market I will personally send you that dollar if you so choose to purchase them.

Please.  I love this earth.  I know each of you, in turn, do as well.  There is too much magic here to be wasted.  Take a moment.  Step outside.  Feel the soil squeeze beneath the lining of your toes breathe in something real rake your fingers through the dirt and let it linger there amongst the grooves of skin.  This is too precious to waste. I am begging you. Small changes yield big results. Try. Just a bit harder. But try. If there’s a single thing I know, it’s that human beings breed resolve. We breed determination. We breed results. Let’s get to it, then. Make it happen.

33 thoughts on “10 Things I hate about…how we treat our world”

  2. YES YES YES! Thank you for writing & saying this. We Westerners in particular need to do as much as we possibly can, for we use the most resources, just by eating & drinking bottled water & flying & buying stuff! I’m 51, & have loved my adventures in the natural world, but I am so sad to think my 17yr old son can’t see some of what I’ve seen, never mind his children if he ever has any. Well done for speaking up ❤

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  4. Sorry for the long response but…Yes to the whole list. Turning off lights – in this day and age with all the technology I don’t think people realize how many little LED lights stay on. I lived off-grid for a few years and at night it was completely pitch black. Now I go places and see all these pinpoint lights. And don’t get me started on the businesses! Do car sales lots really need to be lit up so brightly at night that the glare blinds you driving by? I used to get teased for planting trees when I lived in the forest. But I did, for forest management and stream bank stabilization. Someone said, when I planted a baby sequoia, ‘do you realize in two hundred years that tree will have grown into your driveway?’ I said ‘do you realize in two hundred years that will be someone else’s problem?’ A dirt driveway can move around a tree. The sequoia’s far reaching roots will stabilize a whole micro-environment. Loved your list, and your humor.

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  6. Great starter list, Shayleene. The US per capita consumes 25% more than any other country. We need to look at EVERYTHING we do and look for ways to reduce, reuse, recycle. Plastic packaging – don’t get me started. We waste food, energy, and probably our lives. Let’s get on top of this thing!

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  10. Love your post. I would add an eleventh thing to your list. Quit the hell denying that we are experiencing major global weather changes and do something about it. Those who deny that the human race is having a huge impact on the weather conditions have much in common with those who deny the Holocaust.

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  11. You’d love us then I only wash towels once a week and my kids wash their beddings once a month if I’m lucky sometimes once every two months 😂
    We recycle and we have 4 minutes showers . Our lights are all LED.

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  13. Your post made me laugh because you are about the only person that understands how I feel about these things..

    1) My light bulbs are all LED. One of the things we did when we moved to our new houses.
    2) I try to use natural light whenever I can. I wouldn’t even use air conditioning sometimes, but my husband can’t.
    3) I have been learning how to garden, so I’m working on my landscaping next year.
    4) I turn off the tap whenever possible. My husband had his nephews stay over, and I almost killed them when they didn’t turn off the tap when they are soaping their hands. I also hate it when my husband keeps the tap running because he wants to have warm water off the tap. I make him save the money in a container.
    5) I recycle all paper, cardboard, plastic (Labeled #1 & #2) and glass. I also use my own grocery bags.
    6) I live in a small city, so it’s quite difficult to carpool or bike anywhere.
    7) We bought a Nissan Altima that has high miles per gallon.
    8) We reuse our towels because who wants to do laundry all the time.
    9) I try to cook lesser meat, and incorporate more fresh vegetables in our meals.
    10) I rarely ever use paper towels unless it’s to drain the grease off fried food. I have no idea why people like to use paper towels for every meal, or use so many pieces when they are eating something messy. Just wash your hands after your meal and dry your hands on the hand towel at the sink!

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    1. YES YES YES! You go! I am proud of the fact that there are people like you out there. much to the chagrin of my bf, I went vegan about three months ago. For my own health, and the health of the world. I suck at it, but I’m trying. You keep on doing you, and keep in loving this earth. It’s a beautiful thing to see.

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  14. Jesse

    I study environmentalism from a chemical engineer’s perspective.
    Try to live a sustainable lifestyle. Use less plastic. Use paper products. Don’t go to the doctor unless you’re dying. I love paper and cotton towels, we make them from waste products.
    Use more water, and less chemicals.
    Don’t live in a place where they use nuclear power, this demand will cause–according to the EPA–cancer in 1 in 1 people. If you can’t help living there, then live in the dark. At least you won’t be spreading radioactivity. How is it possible that most of the radio emission plants are on fault lines?
    I live in a place with hydroelectricity, I never even look at my power bill. I use incandescent bulbs. The look nice, and they aren’t filled with carcinogens and environmentally toxic chemicals. Just tungsten, which is virtually edible.
    Stop buying products like phones, plastic things and new crap you don’t need.
    Waste water plants evaporate all the water you flush, so keep flushing to use less chemicals in the bowl.
    I flush for fun, but I produce my own water. Instead of having dogs and cats, I have a cow. I eat meat every day if I want.

    The biggest detriment to the environment BY FAR is our inability to have social progress. I’m NOT talking about making policy to inhibit small businesses and individuals!
    Money and permission are TOO DIFFICULT to procure. So…. only the biggest most corrupt businesses can operate?
    And instead of using my special conductor device to get virtually unlimited power generation, people run about burning lubricants to get more money. They could all be riding on an electric induction design. As a society: we have technology level 68 and humanity level 2.
    Our greatest minds are literally stuck in caves and cardboard boxes because we are too greedy as a whole. Your tax money educated us, so why not give us more money to fix these problems?
    People don’t hit up my go fund me site to make the world better, but they give money for the stupid stuff like the fishing guy that lost his girlfriend (he made 5 figures).

    OLT: If you close the lid when you flush, the microscopic particles from the bowl won’t spray the walls and ceiling of your throne room, and thus, less cleaning.

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    1. Okay, I agree with everything you are saying. 100%. But it’s hard to get people on your level, at least from the start. That being said, preach on! I am wholeheartedly with you on this. You go. Keep it up. I’m proud of the people like you.

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