I just saw a Christmas-gift-themed commercial for a single-serving coffee maker that consumes a little disposable non-recyclable plastic cup filled with coffee grounds and sealed with an also-non-recyclable foil seal.  I thought to myself, WHEN are consumers going to learn that their convenience should not always take priority in their purchases??  I am so burned by this, I cannot even tell you. 

It reminded me of a friend I have whose mentality is "just throw it away."  For example, she recently bought the wrong size shower curtain for her shower.  She was out of town and I was staying at her place one night, so I offered to buy her the correct size curtain and replace the wrong one.  I asked her where was the package for the original one so she could return it to the store.  And her stock answer was--you guessed it--"Oh, I threw it in the garbage."  Which is exactly where the brand-new, never-used-but-wrong-sized shower curtain landed too, I'm sure.  You just can't educate some people, it seems, because they just don't care.  It's really all about their own personal convenience.  And unfortunately, here in the United States, our rampant consumerism fosters this selfish mindset.

Here is another shining example of a complete and utter lack of consideration for the health and well-being of our planet.  It turns out the U.S. is not the only country guilty of such environmental disregard at the retail level.  The following comes from our friends in the Great White North, and talks about one person's efforts to ask national coffee/donut chain Tim Horton's to please use her ceramic mug for her coffee.  Well, here's what happens when you don't train your employees to think for themselves. 

Several weeks ago, I spied the server first pouring the coffee into one of the company's paper cups, before transferring that coffee to my mug! So how on Earth are they protecting the environment by filling reusable mugs? This completely defeats the purpose. A few days ago, I entreated the server to pour the coffee straight into my mug, rather than using a company cup, and she looked very confused. I'm a quiet person and I don't enjoy causing a stir, but I had to ask her twice to prevent her from using the paper cup. She said that if she used my mug alone, she wouldn't know what price to charge - small, medium, or large! So, in desperation, I told her I'd pay her the price of a large if she would just pour it straight into the mug. This seemed to confuse her further. She went to get the manager, who also seemed surprised by my request. She impatiently said, "OK," and then proceeded to pour my coffee into a Tim Hortons cup, then poured that into my mug. Where, exactly, was I unclear?

It's an atrocity.  The pouring coffee into a paper cup first story sounds like a similar indignity that I suffered at Staples.  As an environmentally enlightened person, I habitually turn down plastic bags when offered at retail checkouts, such as the grocery store (I bring my own canvas bags), Target, and the like.  Very simply, I do not need a plastic bag to carry my most likely already-overpackaged single-item purchase 30 steps to my car.  (And, by the way, NEITHER DO YOU.  Pass it on.)

This was the case when I purchased a single computer cable at Staples.  I told the cashier at the beginning of the transaction, "I don't need a bag, thank you."  However, by the transaction's conclusion one minute later, the idiot cashier had placed my single item into a plastic bag.  I repeated, "I don't need a bag."  So...what does the cashier do?  She promptly crumples up the bag and TOSSES IT INTO THE GARBAGE CAN.  I was so infuriated, I just had to speak up.  I said, "Excuse me, but please don't throw away that bag.  The whole point in me not wanting to take it is that I didn't want to waste it."  She just stared at me, pretty much mumbled, "Whatever," under her breath, and did nothing about the bag in the trash can. Defeated, I left the store, determined to call and give the manager a piece of my mind.

It turns out I didn't have to put myself out.  As luck would have it, my next stop was another merchant (a natural foods store) in that same strip mall.  As I was checking out of there (no bag, thank you), I noticed the store's owner chatting with a tie-wearing guy wearing a Staples badge.  I took a chance and said, "Excuse me, are you the manager at the Staples next door?"  He was!  Oh happy day!  I proceeded to regale him with my story, and even had the opportunity to prove my point that no, you don't need a bag to walk 30 feet to your car, as I had purchased several items at the natural foods store and was miraculously able to carry them, in my own two arms.  Imagine that!?

Anyway, I filled the guy's ear with about as much venom as I could spew toward his ill-informed cashier, and to his credit, he gave me an audience.  He also gave me a lame excuse about her being "new."  Whatever.  Like that matters in this situation?  He said he would speak to her about it.

I could probably go on for days and provide countless more examples of this inconsideration, but you get the idea.  Maybe for Christmas this year, we could all forego the wrapping paper and at minimum, present our gifts in reusable bags.  Just a thought.