My Continuing Education

 

There is nothing wrong with your television set. Do not attempt to adjust the picture. We are controlling transmission. If we wish to make it louder, we will bring up the volume. If we wish to make it softer, we will tune it to a whisper. We will control the horizontal. We will control the vertical. We can roll the image, make it flutter. We can change the focus to a soft blur or sharpen it to crystal clarity. For the next hour, sit quietly and we will control all that you see and hear – The Outer Limits' opening narration

Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain – The Wizard of Oz

The other day, while at the Rodale Institute for Research and Education, I dropped by their little retail store about closing time to fill up (product placement ahead!) my stainless steel, Kleen Kanteen beverage container. A little ironic, don't you think, their ground water is non-potable due to excessive amounts of calcium, the result of natural limestone deposits. The young woman behind the counter offered me chilled, sparkling water. Chit chat segue to talk of shrub - a fruit, sugar and vinegar concoction dating back to colonial times - which one mixes by adding still water or two cents plain. The back of the little bottles of Raspberry Shrub on the shelf contained a brief description of its contents and instructions for its use. Though originally in reference to the proper proportion of government in our lives, the clever writer of the back label brought into service a quote of Thomas Jefferson's: “a little goes a long way”.

I almost hesitate to speak the word for fear of being labeled an alarmist or conspiracy theorist, but here goes anyways: the matrix is real. Maybe not exactly as portrayed in the movie of the same name, but our lives are manipulated by forces unseen, so pervasive we no longer realize we're under their spell.

Does anybody really believe George W. won fair and square in Florida? That Pearl Harbor was truly a surprise attack? That on the morning of 9/11, forty minutes after an airliner has inexplicably crashed into the North Tower, United Flight 175 somehow slipped past flight controllers and NORAD's dragnet? Or that the Twin Towers collapsed solely as a result of the two plane's impact?

Alright, okay, I can tell I'm losing you. I can see that faraway look in your eyes. You're thinking...man, the next thing you'll say is that Lee Harvey Oswald wasn't a lone gunman. Or that Jack Ruby was aided and abetted. Can't you leave anything just be? You troublemakers are always...always...making trouble!

Fair enough. For the moment, let's put aside these inconclusive and controversial Big Ticket items and move onto something a bit more tangible, a tad more manageable. Things we can know for sure, things we can do something about. We're not just puppets, you know, dangling under and at the mercy of some faceless evildoers. We live in a democracy, right?

Okay, let's take a sober look at two myths of recycling - these findings (reproduced here verbatim) from a Berkeley, California, pilot program, as reported by the Ecology Center's Berkeley Plastics Task Force. They prove the old refrain: if you can't reduce landfill there, you can't reduce landfill anywhere. It's up to you...

Misconception # 1: Plastics that go into a curbside recycling bin get recycled.

Not necessarily. Collecting plastic containers at curbside fosters the belief that, like aluminum and glass, the recovered material is converted into new containers. In fact, none of the recovered plastic containers from Berkeley are being made into containers again but into new secondary products such as textiles, parking lot bumpers, or plastic lumber – all un-recyclable products. This does not reduce the use of virgin materials in plastic packaging. "Recycled" in this case merely means "collected," not reprocessed or converted into useful products.

Misconception # 2: Curbside collection will reduce the amount of plastic landfill.

Not necessarily. If establishing collection makes plastic packages seem more environmentally friendly, people may feel comfortable buying more. Curbside plastic collection programs, intended to reduce municipal plastic waste, might backfire if total use rises faster than collection. Since only a fraction of certain types of plastic could realistically be captured by a curbside program, the net impact of initiating curbside collection could be an increase in the amount of plastic landfill. The Berkeley pilot program showed no reduction of plastic being sent to the landfill in the areas where the curbside collection was in operation. Furthermore, since most plastic reprocessing leads to secondary products that are not themselves recycled, this material is only temporarily diverted from landfills.

Should these revelations alarm you? The simple answer is yes, they should. The more complex, scientifically-informed answer? Fuck, yeah!

There is a prescient scene in The Graduate, the 1967 Mike Nichols film written by Buck Henry. In the scene, where a party has been thrown in honor of the recent college graduate, the lost and rudderless Benjamin Braddock, played by Dustin Hoffman, is pulled aside by an older, wiser friend of his parents, with some business acumen. “Ben.” “Mr. McGuire." “Ben.” “Mr. McGuire." “Come with me for a moment, I want to talk to you...” (Ben is led outside to the pool)... “I just want to say one word to you...just one word.” Yes, Sir.” “Are you listening?” “Yes, Sir.” “Plastics.”

Yes, Sir. Plastics.

Turns out that was some damn good business advice. That is, if you want to reduce manufacturing costs of just about anything and everything. Make products that wear out sooner and easily break. Replace durable materials like aluminum, rubber and steel. In other words, perfect for a Disposable Society. Why pay a lot of money for something that will last a lifetime when you can pay so much less. Never mind that you'll be buying another one before the year is out. Certainly by next year. Especially when those newer versions, models, what have you, will be smaller, larger, cooler, hotter, faster, lighter.

So, what's the big deal. Well, actually the big deal is a little deal. Think molecular. Are you listening, Mr. Mcguire? Plasticizers. Also known as phthalates or phthalate plasticizers, these chemicals made from fossil fuels which give plastic its plasticity, can be toxic and carcinogenic, whether in production or off-gassing as VOCs (Volatile Organic Compounds). Plastic is everywhere. You don't even have to look up to know it's all around you. Your computer? Full of plastic. Pen in hand? Plastic. Paper coffee cup lid? Plastic. And for all intents and purposes, plastic does not decompose and if and when it does, it persists in the environment, like, forever? (Yes, even Valley Girls know this.) How many millions of tons of plasticizers are dispersed in the ocean and waterways, like so much background radiation, is incalculable. If nothing else, your takeaway from today's entry is this – plasticizers are known endocrine disruptors – they mimic hormones like testosterone and estrogen, wreaking havoc in the body of humans, not to mention fish, fowl, amphibians, reptiles and insects.

At your earliest convenience...say...immediately following this blog and before returning to your regularly-scheduled program, google plasticizer. You don't have to be a conspiracy theorist, you know, to be alarmed. And just because you're paranoid doesn't mean you're not being followed. File closed.

Now, what's up with those barium chem-trails?