tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21571730.post7502285706052915066..comments2023-06-30T06:16:43.688-07:00Comments on Pint and Fork: Blog commentaryNicholashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13106360879889678141noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21571730.post-37521061774975510062008-03-09T22:30:00.000-07:002008-03-09T22:30:00.000-07:00Kate, I didn't intend to claim that we shouldn't t...Kate, I didn't intend to claim that we shouldn't try to be as green as possible. But I think it's important to be realistic about the consequences of small steps in the right direction.<BR/><BR/>Eliminating plastic bags at checkouts is a significant small step in the right direction as plastic will persist for centuries in landfills. The less of it we use, the better.<BR/><BR/>Ink on seafood packaging, on the other hand, seems far less significant. An absolutely astounding amount of ink is used all the time from the credit card applications we all get in the mail, to the ink on the sides of Whole Foods grocery bags, to the latest trash romance novel. <BR/><BR/>My point was that it seems inappropriate to cry foul at Whole Foods for the ink on the paper when we a tremendous amount of ink is wasted on our behalf all the time. The point being that a comprehensive approach (against junk mail, etc.) will do far more good than merely dealing with one small part of the problem. So eliminating the use of this ink is a good thing, but eliminating more wasted ink would be a better thing.Nicholashttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13106360879889678141noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21571730.post-22203741409866216842008-03-08T17:56:00.000-08:002008-03-08T17:56:00.000-08:00I have to object to the bottom line of your point ...I have to object to the bottom line of your point #1, basically - if you aren't going to try to eliminate all extra ink, why try at all. (though I completely agree with you that the 'fake newspaper' isn't really worth worrying about, and though I ALSO agree with xenobiologist that the 'pretentious facade' is annoying. Side note: I really can't stand Trader Joe's for this reason. It seems to think it's so awesome, and 'loyal' shoppers think it's the most amazing place of earth. But yet all the food is shipped from who-knows-where and not local (well, maybe some produce, but nothing like even Woodman's, where I'm constantly amazed at how much foodstuffs are local.) and also, not really that special.<BR/><BR/>Sorry, tangent. Anyway, I disagree with the premise that if you aren't going to do everything toward being green or organic or whatever that you shouldn't even try. If that were true, none of us should ever try to do anything toward helping save the environment or going organic or whatever, unless we live in a cabin with no electricity, grow all our own food and raise our own meat and own no vehicles, and even then, probably something else could be done better.<BR/><BR/>Thanks for the interesting, thought-provoking blog posts.<BR/><BR/>-KWill & Katehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14001424590161505939noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21571730.post-78877484132553473632008-02-24T13:46:00.000-08:002008-02-24T13:46:00.000-08:00This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21571730.post-50960153511724475992008-02-09T17:11:00.000-08:002008-02-09T17:11:00.000-08:00Honestly, what pissed me off so much about the "fa...Honestly, what pissed me off so much about the "fake newspaper" isn't so much the waste of ink (admittedly trivial) as that it's part of the pretentious facade that WF projects.<BR/><BR/>A lot of environmentalists seem to enjoy this aura of cultural elitism, and the point of my post was arguing that that needs to be got rid of in order to make conservation a true universal value. And healthy food needs to be made financially and physically accessible to *all* people, *especially* those who can't afford the time and money to drive miles to the nearest hippy store. People who work all day in a factory and come home to a tiny apartment with several kids who need feeding.<BR/><BR/>I have a VERY VIVID memory of my family going to a WF store the first time my family was in the USA when I was a high school student. My dad was on sabbatical doing a Master's degree, so we were basically living off my aunty's charity. We went into this store once to have a look around. There was so much great food that looked so much more interesting than what we normally got at Aldi's, but all my parents could afford to buy us were a couple of pieces of "Fruit Leather".xenobiologistahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09781983279242647376noreply@blogger.com