As I sit in the park, I see a young mother walk by with her youngster gleefully running toward the swingset.
At first I am happy for their happiness, then shake my head and feel a certain sense of sadness when I think what the world will be like 20 years from now for this child or if there will be a planet at all.
It makes me sad.
At the Yellowknife Farmer's Market, we have worked hard to switch vendors and consumers over to compostable materials or even better, encourage visitors to bring their own containers so they can take their extra food and their packaging home. That means less ending up in the landfill, taking up precious space and turning into methane gas. As we all know, methane gas, (largely the result of meat production) is quickly becoming one of the greatest threats to us and our biosphere.
Thus, the market has come up with loyalty cards - a little tool to encourage people to bring containers to the market. After using it eight times, visitors get a free meal. A free meal! This is wonderful way to educate the public and encourage us all to make the switch. It is a tactic quickly spreading to all larger city events too, meaning more and more land is being saved and more people are doing their part.
However, we can wander out to the streets and see one vendor using cardboard boxes (yeah! compostable) and another using compostable boxes (yeah! very conscientious) but sadly, there are no compost bins for consumers to deposit their packages. Here's hoping the city will get those compost bins out soon.
As unfortunate as that is, it's unfortunate to see when vendors still use styrofoam. Yup, that substance that when burned goes directly up to the biosphere and chips away at the ozone layer, putting us all at risk due to increased global warming. Conversely, it just sits in the dump forever, never breaking down, just contributing to the trash that is quickly enveloping our planet.
At first it is easy to point a finger at the vendor and ask why this person is still using a material which is so obviously harmful, especially when they are aware of that. A common argument is that it's still used to keep costs down and to benefit the consumer. The better approach, though, is to say consumers are responsible too. Yes, it is a hassle to bring your own container to work but if enough people do that, or refuse to buy this particular product until alternative packaging is used, the situation would change. What the consumer wants, the consumer gets.
This is not just about saving a few quarters on your meal, it is way beyond that. It is about making an effort to save the planet and maybe prevent a forest fire or two, or a drought, or water from evaporating or lives being lost elsewhere because of all of this. And yes, using toxic substances such as these and other everyday living habits, such as forgetting to compost, have this impact on our planet and all life forms
So the next time you are in line waiting for your food at a vendor who uses styrofoam, look at the person standing next to you, look at the children nearby, think about your boyfriend, girlfriend, parents, dog, anyone or anything you care about and ask yourself whether you are helping or hurting them by using this product. If it is going to hurt them, stop. Go elsewhere or go home and get your own container. You will be sending out a powerful message, a message that says you care. Every little bit counts.
A shout out, by the way, to Javaroma which has made the switch to wooden stir sticks from plastic ... yeah! Now to deal with those plastic-lined cups used elsewhere.
We are in this together folks. And together we can make a difference.
'Til next time.
