In Thrall to Big Oil and Gas

Thrall: the state of being in someone’s power

Most of us, I think, do not realize how deeply we are in thrall to big oil and gas companies. Petroleum products are ubiquitous, and the most obvious of these is plastic, which is made from either natural gas or petroleum.

I’m actually a big fan of plastic – certain kinds of plastic. In my kitchen are three plastic mixing bowls that I use almost daily. They have served me well for many years and show no signs of wearing out. For a person with arthritic hands they are a godsend.

For all my years as a homemaker I have saved sturdy plastic bags that come my way. I use them over and over and over again, and wrote about this habit last year. chickencreekjournal.blogspot.com/2012/12/plastic-bags.html‎   Since then I’ve come up in the world and have a special drying rack for them beside my kitchen sink, thanks to my friend Laurie. Someday, when the oil runs out, my plastic bag collection could become family heirlooms.

Single-use plastic is another matter. Grocery bags, plastic wrap, water bottles, and more fall into this category, and they are everywhere. In the United States alone in 2009 we used 102 billion plastic bags. Some are recycled, but many end up floating in the oceans or buried in landfills. God only knows how many plastic water bottles we toss out every day. Only 25 percent of recycled plastic is ever made into anything; the remainder is either incinerated or dumped into landfills. Plastic bags take centuries to decompose.

A movement to ban single-use plastic items is underway. Its most charming expression is this YouTube video, which I hope you will watch. PLASTIC STATE OF MIND (Empire State of Mind Parody).

Now, take a look at some of the more than 6,000 items made from petroleum. http://www.ranken-energy.com/Products from Petroleum.htm Then tell me whether we are in thrall to big oil and gas.

Appalling Addendum:

Shortly after I posted this Dennis and I went to a friend's 70th birthday party. About 25 people attended. We ate roast beef, mashed potatoes, green beans, and salad. Later we had ice cream and cake from a grocery bakery. We ate on plastic plates using plastic knives, forks, and spoons. We drank from plastic glasses and used many paper napkins. When the party ended a 20-gallon trash can, lined with a plastic bag, was filled to the top with our plastic debris.

Noting that, I said to Kyle, who was standing beside me, "Look at all the trash we have generated. It's headed for the landfill."

His response? "It was worth it."

I doubt that Kyle has thought that through.

On the way home I remarked to Dennis about the amount of trash we left behind. He said the exact same thing had happened at the meeting he had attended at noon. Lunch was served in plastic containers and the utensils were all plastic. There, too, a large trash container was overflowing.

The problem, I fear, is much worse than I had realized.

Copyright 2013 by Shirley Domer