I've Been Thinking Green Tonight

I was at an Interview Skills Workshop this afternoon. One of the interesting things I can remember was about researching the company before the interview. I already knew about the researching part but two new things were researching the competitors and researching market and industry trends. I think I already knew those too but had forgotten them. Funny how your brain stops stopping on a dime once you get old-ish.

We had to write four interview questions. One was something you would ask if you were the interviewer. The second was something you hate to answer when you are interviewed. The third was something illegal to be asked, such as demographic information. The fourth was something unusual/ wacky just to throw people off. I asked, "Is it ethical to flush goldfish?"

So your question for the day... is it ethical to flush goldfish? I mean not just the dead ones or those barely living. What about all those goldfish which are flushed just cause people are tired of watching them do nothing but float around, puff out their cheeks and poop. Excitement is not a goldfish.

Two interesting issues in the news lately: banning cell phones from schools and banning plastic grocery store bags from cities entirely.

On the cell phone thing I am comfortable with them being banned or at least restricted. Do we really need to tell everyone we are on the bus and thinking about stopping to get milk on the way home? Is that really important communication? No. People talking about boring stuff on the bus should be banned. If you can't talk about something interesting just shut up or get off the bus and bore someone walking home.

Also, it is possible all that boring and useless cell phone use has begun killing off the bees. Think about your last call. Was it worth killing a bee for? Of course, it's not just the bees. Bees are essential for pollinating plants. Next time you want to eat something from the plant world consider the bee who let the plants have sex so they could make little plants so you could eat them. Now, how do you feel about killing bees and causing plants to lose all the excitement they really have. It's not like they can just walk over to another plant and buy them a drink.

As to the plastic bags... I wonder what will happen to everyone working so hard to make all those bags now. What about the oil producing countries who will see their income lost due to plastic bag banning. To each action there is a reaction. Yes, it's good for the environment not to have those bags blowing in the wind but someone else will suffer for it. Wildlife won't get stuck in bag handles. How will they amuse themselves? People won't have a lifetime free supply of small sized garbage bags. I even have a garbage can thing which was created just to use those plastic grocery bags, the handles slip over the slots in the side of the can. What about that! What about the person who created that idea and patented it? They are going to be out of a vast fortune. That hardly seems fair.

Still, I do think the plastic grocery bags should go. It isn't an easy decision for me. I have considered how I will need to buy an even bigger purse to hold all my non-flimsy (yet still some form of plastic) grocery bags. I have a nice one from M&M Meats which they gave me for free last time I shopped there and bought a ton of frozen stuff. I will have to get at least one more of those I think. However, it is a struggle to get even one folded and smushed up into my purse along with all the other necessary junk I cart around everyday. Something else will have to be sacrificed if I am going to fit in two of those. Don't think that will be an easy choice to make. Or, that I only need to bring bags when I'm going grocery shopping. I never know when I will end up picking up a few things, along the way home or as I see a store when I am out wandering around doing important and vital things. I will always need to keep at least one bag in my purse for non-planned grocery shopping.

Yet, I put the environment first. If the plastic bags are banned here in Toronto I will manage... somehow. It's for the turtles after all. Think of the turtles who have to live with those blasted bags sinking down into the wetlands once they blow away in some parking lot or other. Those bags never compost, they just stick around forever. The poor turtles have to live with them longest since none of the frogs and fish and other creatures live long enough to really care. So, if they ban grocery bags in your area, think of the turtles who you'll be making very happy.