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Categories - Shopping - Free Online Business Help - Telecommunications Services - Copywriting Articles: Business - Fields of Green An area that no one seems to be paying attention to where we could make vast improvements to this country’s economy, health, and environment is the plastics industry. The plastics industry at $280 billion per year, domestically, is a mighty foe to take on especially since it is one industry where the country enjoys a trade surplus instead of a deficit. The benefits of replacing much of the plastic with more natural resources, when considered, appear to make the fight worthwhile. Environmentally, all of us have seen a plastic bag blowing down the street, laying in the parking lot, littering a park, or washing in the waves at the beach. The contrast of a plastic bag against the background of an otherwise pristine setting makes it hard not to miss and it’s something that we could all spend a lifetime without seeing. We normally don’t think about it until it’s in front of our eyes, but the recent increasing number of municipalities charging a tax on plastic bags caused me to start looking for plastic bags littering the landscape. For the past month after several trips to the store and various other places, I have not seen one plastic bag laying in the gutter or blowing in the wind, which makes me wonder if the problem is really big enough to have to pay an additional quarter for two loaves of bread or if the city is just finding a way to tax and spend more.
While plastic is oil based and the industry certainly does use a lot of oil, only about 5% of our nations oil usage goes towards the production of plastics. The real problem environmentally is that plastics do not biodegrade. There have been many reports of an ocean the size of one of the Great Lakes north of Hawaii full of cast off surfboards, kayaks, tables, chairs, air mattresses and other items that make the water impassable for anything other than large ocean going ships. What will future generations think when they dig up millions of hoola-hoops 1000 years from now? It will no doubt be the cause of a major government funded study. What will we do when our landfills are full of plastic? What if these things were made of wood?
What if, instead of paying farmers to not grow anything, we paid them to grow trees and then set them off on their own after the first crop matured? They could deliver their crop to green energy-powered sawmills who, in turn, would deliver their cuttings to green energy powered factories that built tables, chairs, toys, and just about anything that is currently made from plastic. Of course paper and cardboard are also made from sawdust so our non-biodegradable bag and container problem would also be cured. Think of the jobs and the filtration of the air as the trees grew, let alone the economical growth and taxpayer relief.
Perhaps, the farmers who did not want to grow trees could grow cotton or grass for cattle and sheep. Do you really want to wear plastic clothes or sit in furniture covered with vinyl or would you prefer cotton, leather, and wool? Think of the growth as more green energy-powered mills introduced technological breakthroughs in dying, milling, spinning, weaving, and tanning. The country’s land would once again become a resource instead of a chain around the taxpayers’ necks. We may actually even need the millions of immigrants who are in this country illegally.
Of course some plastic, like oil, will continued to be required. We would have a hard time returning to the days without computers, but we can have an easier time if more natural products replace at least half of our plastics industry.
For those who actually believe that global warming is a threat, trees and grass require carbon dioxide to grow. As they are growing, they convert it into oxygen. He administration’s carbon taxes that are now on the table won’t be required. Thank you anyway.
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