Trash the Holidays

The city has just released a press release outlining the changes in schedule around the city's trash collection services in response to the holidays. Among the changes in trash days, the city is providing an accommodation that amounts to a free-for-all of trash.

The city provides trash service for residences as a standard city service. Each home is entitled to two bags of trash per pick-up and can leave additional bags by purchasing stickers to place on the excess bags.

For Christmas, though, no stickers are necessary. Leave as much trash as you'd like. The city is recognizing that we celebrate this holiday by being excessive in every way possible. We torture ourselves, our families and our environment with our expectations of each other.

It has become paradoxically fashionable to lament the rampant consumerism of the holiday season while simultaneously accusing people of being Scrooges. At least we're at the point now that we can question some of the anything-goes behavior that was easily justified as being "Christmas spirit" by asking a few question about the implications.

Isn't it interesting that the city and KCP&L launches a massive campaign to save energy one bulb at a time by encouraging the replacement of traditional bulbs with compact fluorescents while simultaneously sponsoring a display of over 80 miles of lights?

The Plaza lights took a break in 1973 when Richard Nixon was a Scrooge who suggested that using power for pretty lights was making us more dependent upon foreign oil. Last time I checked, that dependence problem is even worse now -- but nobody has the guts to say so, or to make the association.

Yes, the Plaza lights are beautiful and turning them on is an event that brings our community together with a sense of pride. I just wish we could be as proud of what we were doing to improve our communities.

Next year, consider calling a truce with your family. Do thoughtful things to show that you are thinking of them and that you care for them. Take them off the hook from having to stress out over getting you a gift.

Give them the gift of peace and they won't even have to take out the trash.

Dream Commute

In a recent article in the Washington Post, some folks that commute more than 50 miles a day outlined their experiences. They indicated that they moved so far away "for the children" or to find their dream house.

Is quality of life even a consideration? What good is a dream house if you are only there for 10 hours a day? How can someone be making a decision for their children knowing that the decision is going to take them away from their children for such a long time?

As if the quality of life issues weren't enough, the article outlines the additional ways that living a car-dependent lifestyle can actually make you sick. The health implications of planning, sprawling developments and suburban lifestyles have been well documented. This article explores the health implications specific to the commute itself, including the toll on one's body from sitting in place and the stress of dealing with the drive every day.

Shouldn't one's dream house be one that allows them to live the lifestyle that is healthiest and most enriched, not the one with the most bedrooms 60 miles from home? Shouldn't the best choice for the children be the one that allows their parents to spend the most time with them? When will quality of life be a consideration?

Are we going to destroy our communities, our environement, our bodies and our children before we figure this out?

Second Class Citizen

As I braved my commute this morning, I was given a stark reminder of how I ranked on the food chain of transportation. Recently, I've been ditching the bus and walking the mile to work every day. Today in the bitter cold, I checked on the next bus and decided to give walking a shot anyway.

As I made my way up the hill, I encountered mountains of dirty ice chunks. The roads had been cleared for easy passage of the automobiles and all of the gunk had been pushed up onto the sidewalk. For several blocks, I couldn't even determine where the sidewalk was supposed to be as I attempted to make my way across the slick, gunky mess.

Meanwhile, the snowplows made another pass over an already cleared street. Is there any more explicit way that I can be told that my method of transportation isn't even worth consideration and, even worse, can be undermined for the benefit of another?