Earth Day Ramblings

I heard somewhere that the label on a Starbucks cup is placed in such a way that it remains visible no matter how one smashes it. I consider this as I try to figure out what I'm going to eat/drink this fine Earth Day on my way to COMO's annual celebration.

I'll also have to consider which brew of coffee I should choose as they often come from thousands of miles away. That's a lot of fuel just for a cup of coffee from Sumatra or Guatemala (oh, but I do love the Guatemalan coffee).

I have to also consider my ongoing job hunt as I drive 40 minutes, an hour, or even two hours to job interviews. Of course, I won't commute two hours every day, but you get the point. We'd like to replace my rundown '97 VW Golf if at all possible with a Toyota Prius, but that environmentalism will cost us. Being a leftist/hippie/ anarchist /tree-hugger is expensive at $22k...which might be my salary next year.

Does anyone even care that it's Earth Day? There are still a lot of SUV's out there, and no one's cutting down on their electric use. This was the first full week of 60-70 weather, and our neighbors had their AC on. (And yes, they do own an SUV.)

Al Gore hasn't changed any minds. It won't matter how many Oscars he wins for "Best Power Point Presentation", no one wants to hear why we should live more earth-friendly lives. Our oil consumption hasn't gone down as we continually to use it in our cars, plastic crap sold at Wal-Mart, medicine, and even food (yeah, I said "food"). If he had only won the presidency...he could have let us all down by not really making any substantial policy changes. Oh well.

Maybe George W Bush will blaze some trails this Earth Day, and SUV sales will surge in order to save our failing economy. And maybe Starbucks will design a cup will actually send out subliminal messages to buy more coffee from Sumatra.