My Hobby Room: Go Green--Prairie Fire Magazine review

Prairie Fire--On environmental issues

Reduce, Reuse and Recycle

Being retired, tired, and feeling unemployed I sometimes miss the turn in the road and have to backtrack. This trip was no exception and the car turned into a museum area near Plattsmouth, Nebraska. The museum was dedicated to the Lewis and Clark Expedition. Excellent presentations on the animals and flora discovered on the trip as well as models of the keelboat used to navigate the Missouri River were key attractions.

I discovered an excellent environmental resource on the free magazine rack located by the front door of a museum dedicated to the Lewis and Clark Expedition.

On the cover of the magazine, "Prairie Fire, The Progressive Voice of the Great Plains" there is an illustration of a man standing on a trash can juggling tin cans, old bottles and trash. An article by Joel Sartore (Nebraska resident and a photographer for National Geographic Magazine and contributor to national news broadcasts) entitled "Wasteful consumption" seemed promising.

The ideal that we throw away too much stuff is one I agree with. Joel Sartore shares his observations on his foreign experience. Mexican families searching the town dump for food, families in Brazil living in cardboard shacks without running water are just two observations.

I can add my observation about life in Central America where the family business may consist of going from house to house to buy old catchup and wine bottles to recycle. Nothing is wasted that can be used again.

Sartore adds that many countries want to live like Americans but it is a dead-end road. It would take 2.5 more planets to supply the resources needed for the rest of the world to copy American consumption! The following quote from the article is impressive:

"It just can't happen, but everyone is trying, much to the detriment of the earth's last great forests, grasslaqnds, oceans, and precious few wild spaces. In short, as resources dwindle, really big compromises in the way we live will be necessary."

I would add my observation to the efforts of large paper container companies like the "Stone Container Company" who have traveled as far as Central America because they have been denied permission to cut down our giant trees in the USA. Trees are Green but Money is sometimes greener. Fortunately some countries have turned them away and the tropical rain forests have been saved for the time being as no workable plan for reforestation is available.

Joel Sartore goes on to suggest solutions to our mass consumption by listing three words: Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle. We can make less purchases, we can reuse old furniture by passing it on to someone who needs it, we can recycle but it is the last resort as anything is better than throwing something away.

Joel suggests donating many of the household items we normally throw away to organizations like Catholic Social Services, Disabled American Veterans, Goodwill, and the Salvation Army.

Picking up "Prairie Fire" for just this one article was well worth the missed turn in the road. The web address is www.prairiefirenewspaper.com for your information and I hope to continue this blog at a later date talking about some of the other interesting news articles and how they fit with Going Green.