changing the climate<\/a>\u00a0for more details), but they are bulky eyesores as well. If we were going to battle I could understand these contraptions, but as far as I know at this point the urban landscape is relatively safe. At least from the type of warfare that hummers are necessary in.<\/p>\nThird – Plastic pop bottles. I know they are unbreakable and that is the charm, but they are also very often lethal. If everyone recycled the plastic bottles there would be no problem, but some people choose to throw them away. Worse yet, some people burn them. This lets off harmful, toxic chemicals that can cause many types of diseases, the least of which would be cancer (which, ironically, is also the reason for the smoking ban). I say bring back the tall, skinny pop bottles. At least give consumers the option of purchasing the bottles in the store. When travelling in Canada I noticed that it is still possible to buy glass bottles when purchasing cola products. Why can’t we have glass here in America again? Glass is reusable and doesn’t lose any of it’s consistency. It can be used over and over again and can even make a nice vase if one chooses not to return it.<\/p>\n
Lastly – Big Chain Coffeehouses. I will not mention any names. I will just say that one chain coffeehouse per square mile (or kilometre for my metric friends) is quite enough. Luckily the city I live in has been spared for the moment. We only boast two chain coffeehouses in the downtown area. Granted, they are the same chain slightly a mile apart from each other but it is still good. Big cities, such as Toronto, Ontario, often have these coffeehouses on every corner. Buffalo has been lucky in this department, but you never know what will happen. Keeping the local businesses strong is important and there is no room for big chain coffeehouses in that equation!<\/p>\n
We shouldn’t stop purchasing the products we love, we should merely consider the consequences of our actions. Consider what the world will be like hundreds of years from today. Just because we won’t be around to see it, doesn’t mean that we should trash it for future generations.<\/p>\n
I realize that this may all sound like nonsense to some of you, but I am the Hippiegrrl afterall. If I don’t publish an article like this now and again you will think I’m slacking off. I just find it humourous that we have banned smoking in bars but we continue to sell liquor, which can also cause serious damage. Perhaps this is because choosing to drink is personal and being adults we should have that choice. Interesting point. Too bad it doesn’t translate to everything in life.<\/p>\n
We stop selling glass bottles because they are breakable but don’t consider the consequences of plastic on our planet. Plastic has many uses. That I cannot deny. We would be hard pressed to live without it. It is the best invention of our modern times. We just need to learn better ways of recycling it and keeping the harmful elements out of the picture.<\/p>\n
Someday everyone will be conscious of their surroundings and hopefully it won’t be too late.<\/p>\n
Peace,
\nHippiegrrl<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Now that the smoking ban in New York State is in effect I believe that it is about time we outlawed some other harmful things. First up – cellphones. These are the most annoying inventions of the modern age. The fact that every yuppie, granny and teenybopper has one makes it even worse. While serving … <\/p>\n
Continue reading “2003.9.15 – things we can do without”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[176],"tags":[178,201],"class_list":["post-142","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-heia","tag-backwash","tag-boycott"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2XCO6-2i","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":314,"url":"https:\/\/hippiegrrlexplainsitall.com\/?p=314","url_meta":{"origin":142,"position":0},"title":"2006.11.8 – the day after – and the sky didn’t fall","author":"chantale","date":"9 December 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"The pins and needles are gone. Election night is over. Now what? The Democrats have taken control of the House and the Senate still hangs in the balance. The big story of the night, at least for feminists like myself, was the rejection of the South Dakota ballot initiative to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "heia"","block_context":{"text":"heia","link":"https:\/\/hippiegrrlexplainsitall.com\/?cat=176"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":436,"url":"https:\/\/hippiegrrlexplainsitall.com\/?p=436","url_meta":{"origin":142,"position":1},"title":"Finally","author":"chantale","date":"22 January 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Five years. That is how long it has been since GBSB officially closed its doors. Even though First Niagara took over the GBSB customers, the culture and time of GBSB was over. Since February 2008, many things have changed in my life. 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Well - you were wrong!\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "rise up!"","block_context":{"text":"rise up!","link":"https:\/\/hippiegrrlexplainsitall.com\/?cat=84"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":72,"url":"https:\/\/hippiegrrlexplainsitall.com\/?p=72","url_meta":{"origin":142,"position":3},"title":"2002.8.27 – why did i ask?","author":"chantale","date":"7 December 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"How many rhetorical questions do you ask in one day? 1? 10? 50? If you work in the customer service industry, like me, you probably ask anywhere from 50-100. The main rhetorical question being, \"how are you doing today?\". 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The yuppies have abandoned the city\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "heia"","block_context":{"text":"heia","link":"https:\/\/hippiegrrlexplainsitall.com\/?cat=176"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":283,"url":"https:\/\/hippiegrrlexplainsitall.com\/?p=283","url_meta":{"origin":142,"position":5},"title":"2004.10.20 – 14 days and counting…","author":"chantale","date":"9 December 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Yes, it is almost time to step into that polling place and cast your ballot for the next President of this great land we call the United States. It is time to put aside all the political smear campaign tactics and look at the facts. 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