Thrifty and Eco-Friendly

Photo from www.getacoder.com

On the red corner, things that are commonly found in the surpluses, things that have not-so-known brands and things that cost a few peso only. On the blue corner, things that are basically found in a fancy store, things that are of known brands and things that cost more than enough. Which one will you buy to save more and more importantly, to help nature? The bell rings and the fight begins. Round one!

When you decide to buy the things under the red corner, it won't leave your wallet frowning. Obviously because you still got an extra money for some other things. However, often times, these cheaper things are associated to low quality ones. Still, many patronize these surplus goods. Take a cue from my mum, who, according to her is a practical way.

And those things falling under the blue corner are associated to things with more pleasing qualities. Like it'll take a long time before it breaks. But not a lot can afford these things. They don't sound so thrifty, at least for me.

Now, whether you can save more on this than that, I'd say that it depends on how you use it. Like our cabinet. It has been used since I was at kindergarten until I'm already a freshman in college. Things would still be functional and useful after a long time if they are used properly, accordingly and with care no matter how much they cost. And same goes as to which of the two is earth-friendly.

If things would have a longer lifespan, then you don't have to buy again and again. So, the energy to fuel machines that creates them are conserved, lessening the harmful gas release in the atmosphere. In a bigger picture, not buying new things (because your old things are still usable) is also good for the nature because you help keep our landfills from being crowded and überfull. Now that's übercool!

Photo from www.mycutegraphics.com

Knock out! Game over! In a bigger sense, the price of things don't really matter. It depends on how they are used. And if they stay long (hooray!) you don't have to buy some replacement, saving money and you help in avoiding dumps to be full, so earth-friendly!

Cure the Plastic World

The Great Pacific Garbage Patch. Photo from www.happysimpleliving.com. 

I was in third year when I read about Great Pacific Garbage Patch (GPGP). According to the magazine, it is a floating mass commonly made up of plastic bottles, bags, spoons and forks and candy wrappers. Its size is so big that you have to multiply Texas by two. Yikes! It's not a material world but a plastic world, afterall.

One thing we can do to stop the growing size of the GPGP is to recycle the plastic litters. When I was at fifth grade, we made a bag out of plastic juice pouches. And when I was a freshman in high school, we made clutches, coin purse and bag out of different types of plastic and tarpaulin. That same school year, our Science teacher hosted a fashion show wherein the models wore dresses out of the same materials. And I really can't forget that I and my classmates actually picked those stuffs from the trash (I mean the real dirty trash).

Not using straws is actually good. Which is what actually my family practices when we eat in restaurants and in parties. Doing so can reduce plastic litters that might end up in the GPGP, the biggest dump in the world. It's a one-time-big-time type of thing. After using one straw, it'll end up in trash and how many do you think use straws all over the world in a day?

And next time, bring your own plastic bottles that will store water so you won't have to buy one. This may sound so old-fashioned (that's what my cousin called me after finding out that I still carry water bottles for refill) but the plastic bottles you buy every time you feel thirsty will still be present when you have kids of your own. This may sound so childish but will you exchange earth's conditions to your dirty, little secrets (a.k.a not disposing properly and not recycling)? 

Issues on recycling, nowadays, are so on mainstream. So hackneyed. But we need to do things like as simple as bringing our own water refills and not so into using straws. Tend to forget being earth-friendly? Think of those cute, little turtles (and Spongebob and Patrick and the Bikini Bottom) under the North Pacific waters.

Food or nah? Plastics confuse turtles for food. This might cause death on them. Photo from inhabitat.com