Lately, we have been inundated with articles about the environment and the benefits of eating organic. Between the articles, Earth Day, impromptu proclamations by Al Gore and Leonardo DiCaprio, and the Today Show discussing the benefits of organic fruit and local grown vegetables we cannot avoid the issues.
Up until this past weekend, I thought that I had the rules down. Recycling, good. Disposing of plastic bottles in the trash, bad. Taking 10 second cold showers, good. Indulging in a 1 hour Jacuzzi bath, bad. But, taking a Jacuzzi bath with 20 of my closest friends, good. Using 1 ply toilet paper with the consistency of sand paper, good. Wiping my most intimate parts with extra fluffy, triple ply Charmin, bad. OK, you get the idea. I thought that I understood the environmental thing and I was ready to take up the battle and march in my allegiance to our fearless leader, Mother Earth.
However, after reading the New York Times this weekend, I realize that I am sadly behind the times...
One article read, "Suddenly, the Hunt is on for Cage-Free Eggs". The article discussed the movement to promote a more humane treatment of chickens, Apparently, certain folks believe that it is better for chickens to roam free instead of being kept in small wire cages. They feel so strongly about the issue that they pay an extra $.60 per dozen to ensure that the chickens who laid their eggs were free to roam. The movement has gotten so much traction that Ben & Jerry's and Burger King have launched plans to use only cage free eggs within the next four years. Who knew?! Here I thought that I was doing well by driving to the closest McDonald's to get my Egg McMuffin!
Another article read, "Water, Water Everywhere, but Guilt by the Bottleful". Apparently, in our quest for health and hydration, Americans are leading the charge in building a massive landfill full of empty water bottles. Apparently, not only is "black the new black" this year, but refillable Nalgene water bottles full of the City's finest is the newest status symbol. Here I was feeling good that I was getting my requisite 64 oz. of water per day. I had no idea that I w as single handedly destroying the planet by sipping my of Evian.
OK, I get the thing about the water bottles. It makes sense to me. I just wish that the tap water had the same smooth almost sweet taste that Evian has as it hits my tongue, tickles my taste buds and travels down my throat. However, I am sure that I shall conform to the Nalgene phase at some point. One, I can visualize what might happen if we all continue to guzzle bottled water and dispose of the bottles. Also, I'm a sucker for a status symbol... :-)
Quite frankly, I'm not sure that I'm feeling the whole Cage-Free egg thing. What do the chickens know? And is their happiness really paramount?
I mean, keeping chickens in a cage just didn't sound horrific. Slaughtering chickens to eat them for dinner, seems a lot more traumatic for the chicken to me. However, no one in the article advocated giving up eating chickens. I guess that must have been off topic. However, since I intend to partake of some tasty grilled BBQ chicken before the summer ends. It seems rather hypocritical for me to refuse to eat an egg because the chicken was kept in a cage. I'm just saying...
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