The Big Green Catch 22

There are a few things I detest...
1. A stupid (sounding) girl- the world needs no more of these.
2. Pompous, arrogant people who brag their butts off, but especially older men.  You know, the kind of guy who would say "what do I do?  Let's just say I'm a big fish in a little pond"... ya, that dude!
AND
3. People who waste things unnecessarily- this one may replace #1.  You know, the kind of people who think they were put on this Earth to consume, consume, consume and don't dare get in their way of running the water for no reason or using 53 take out containers a week and just tossing them in the trash because I'm the one being annoying.  Ugh, I just urped up in my mouth a bit.

Let's elaborate on #3, so that you'll know what got me to this point.

I enrolled in online access with my account with a company that we'll call Shedward Shmones.  I love my Shedward Shmones account and my brother-in-law who manages it, but the mail involved in having an account with a company like this is ungodly.  I think our involvement has resulted in the destruction in 20 huge trees in the past 3 months.

Finally, about 2 weeks ago, I'd had enough.  After coming home and seeing 6 envelopes from Shedward Shmones, in my quest to be, live and lead the way in green living, I got online and switched to paperless.  5 days later, I received 2 more envelopes.  As I glared down these two envelopes that I had UNrequested, I could only ponder what was sooooooo important that the geniuses over at Shedward Shmones had to say that just couldn't be put in an email.

Well, turns out one letter said "this letter confirms your recent enrollment in online account access".  The other?  "this letter confirms your selection of electronic document delivery".  Absolute genius mentality.  As if the common knowledge of what deforestation and mass destruction of rainforest were not, well... common knowledge.

Why on Earth would I need two pieces of paper and 2 envelopes to tell me this?  In order to go even more green, I needed more paper to tell me I was going green.  And with my vegan take-out the other day, 6 styrofoam to-go containers.  It's a big green catch 22.

There is this same mentality in Orange County (no recycling program) and middle of America, when I ask where a recycling bin is, I get a deer in headlights response.  It's crickets and I generally get a sort of prying into why I would be so fond of a resource that I'd like to use it twice, three times, or over and over again (like the take out containers that I'm proud to say I've had for 6 months and just pop them in the dishwasher when dirty).

I've always wanted to create a company that creates recycling programs in these places to make people more aware of what they consume and what they can reuse with it being a part of and maintaining a balanced life and not something we resort to doing similar to what poor people do to trade in aluminum cans for $3 when desperate.

The good news?  I will be receiving no more unnecessarily wasteful letters from SS.  My next step is to call Penny Saver, which I've never had anything to do with, and get them to stop sending me total crap 6 days a week!!!!  But maybe also, I get you to do the same thing.  And hopefully (fingers crossed) if we fight the system long enough, we'll change it.