WOW Word-Of-the-Week #312: Dependent
July 20, 2010 by Susan Clarke · Comments Off on WOW Word-Of-the-Week #312: Dependent
Dependent – relying on someone or something else for aid, support, etc.
Would you consider yourself to be dependent or independent? Do you rely on others for support? Is there anything in your life that you could not live without?
This week I had a big surprise when I read an AP article written by Seth Borenstein titled, “Curbing oil usage could mean some massive sacrifices.” He writes, “Has the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico got you so mad you’re ready to quit Big Oil? Ready to park the car and take up bike riding or walking? Well, your bike and your sneakers have petroleum products in them.”
And so does just about everything we use. Have any fans in your house? How about insulation? I had no idea how dependent our society is on oil.
“Oil is everywhere. It’s in carpeting, furniture, computers and clothing. It’s in the most personal of products like toothpaste, shaving cream, lipstick, deodorant and vitamin capsules. Petrochemicals are the glue of our modern lives and even in glue, too. Because of that, petrochemicals are in our blood.”
“Many of those chemicals are disrupting the human hormone system. They accumulate in the human body and they persist in the environment. The problem is science isn’t quite sure how bad or how safe they are. But plastics also do good things. They are lighter than metals and help create cars that save fuel.” Pretty ironic, huh?
This week think about how dependent you are on oil. Could you live without your computer, cell phone, bottled water or air conditioning? Do you remember the days when soft drinks and milk came in glass bottles and we reused them? Maybe that whole “buy organic and natural” trend isn’t such a bad idea?
“My husband is one of the original recyclers, long before it was popular. His first business, the junk business (or surplus as Alan calls it) was all recycled items before he got into just new metals. My daughter and her husband are into organic and natural big time. Her soaps are organic and natural. I bring the recycled items home from the beach house because the beach doesn’t do recycling. So we might use a lot more plastic but more and more of it is being recycled. I also don’t buy nearly as much bottled water. I put in filtered water at home and I use the filtered pitcher at the beach and give everyone a glass. We all need to be more aware of whatever we can do to use less oil in this country. Thanks for your article. It will make others think on how to improve on the amount of waste we create.” – Elaine