Have you ever really thought about it? We always think in terms of how much gas costs at the pump but... it's a whole lot more serious than that!
Go to min. 3.23 to see a good illustration of our dependance....
It makes ya think...
For those of you who want to watch the whole series - this is #32 - the rest is really interesting only, for me; it's just a rehash of all kinds of crap I already know from a gazillion of other sources (like the "String Theory", "EV1", "Intelligent Design", "Tesla Coils" and etc... It's just a whole lot of "food for thought", nothing more serious...
I saw it. Don't think there's much us not-in-chargers can do except try to consume less. I like the electric cars on tracks idea. Two birds - one stone. More efficient use of energy AND time.
My point was, we rely on petroleum products WAY beyond our cars - we're so dependent on the stuff, in so many ways...
I think that the Arab nations have nothing to fear for a while yet, even if we were allowed electric cars (and yes, viable technology has been existant for decades).
Yep, and quite a few of those products are unnecessary. A lot of cleaning products have more crap in them than what's necessary to actually get things clean.
...and the list of things we don't really need sure is long too.
My friend's dog has been staying here for the last week and I think he freaked out a skunk. I'm sure he didn't get sprayed directly but he sure smelled so we decided to wash him. I made a concoction of baking soda, peroxide and a few squirts of dish soap. It worked and neutralized the smell. I felt good about the homemade solution but I had to reflect on the fact that the box of baking soda was made with wood pulp rather than easily renewed hemp pulp and the bottles of peroxide and dish soap were plastic made from petroleum products...
I remember when shampoo bottles went from glass to plastic (yeah, yeah! I'm that old!) and thought how wonderful it was that we didn't risk a major cut wound if we dropped the bottle in the shower... I was young and stupid back then.
> I remember when shampoo bottles went from glass to plastic (yeah,
> yeah! I'm that old!) and thought how wonderful it was that we didn't
> risk a major cut wound if we dropped the bottle in the shower... I
> was young and stupid back then.
Yeah, I liked the old glass jars and bottles too. For one thing, soda tasted better out of glass. Some people think I'm nuts, but the plastics do leech chemicals into the stuff they're holding.
Irene007 wrote: > I drink a lot of diet pepsi and I hate it when I can't find it in
> a can... It does not taste the same.
When I have the extra money to spare, I buy Stewart's Ginger Beer. It comes in glass bottles that you need a bottle opener to remove. It's expensive, about four bucks for a four-pack, but it's good. Also spicy...many people who only know ginger in the dry powder from the spice rack would be shocked if they tasted this stuff. It's hot. But I like it.
I watched that video. When he first said "57 major products" depended on oil, I thought that was a gross understatement. Perhaps he was thinking more broadly than I was though. Later he pointed out that thousands of individual products depended on oil, which was more in line with what I was thinking.
Many of the general products that now come from oil can be synthesized from corn and and peanuts too. But again, it would probably be really expensive to put the infrastructure in place for that, as well as be more expensive to produce once everything is in place. Much of the initial chemical "engineering" required is already done in crude oil. Plus, it would make food products way more expensive as we use more crops for more applications. Hmmm...we may be in a pickle, eh?
> Many of the general products that now come from oil can be synthesized
> from corn and and peanuts too. But again, it would probably be really
> expensive to put the infrastructure in place for that, as well as
> be more expensive to produce once everything is in place. Much of
> the initial chemical "engineering" required is already done in crude
> oil. Plus, it would make food products way more expensive as we use
> more crops for more applications.
Hemp makes wonderful oil, fabric, paper pulp, medicine and all of it renewable but, alas... It's illegal. In fact, it's more profitable all around to keep it illegal! The expensive part of putting the infrastructure in place to use such oils comes from the OPEC countries, our dependance has made them so rich, their enitre countries depend on it; they control us now...
There have been so many innovations for vehicles to run without petrol but no one can fight that kind of money/power in order to put it into place.
As far as other oils, it would even be a good thing to stop using corn as food, corn oil is everywhere!! It's a major contributor to the obesity and illnesses so present in our societies.
True, true... Come to think of it, I always hated being served anything in a plastic cup or glass. Remember those Tupperwear glasses? I found those to be quite insulting and offensive...
Honestly, I'm getting a little freaked out by all the plastic around us. I was just reading in the paper yesterday about a lawsuit against some baby bottle manufacturer. Certain products used in plastics release, when heated, dangerous chemicals. Think of all the plastic surrounding our food when we heat it in the microwave. And how about the continent of plastic in the ocean... It just ain't right.
The big thing here, in the last couple of years, are reusable grocery bags - I remember them from decades ago! I don't know why it took 20 yrs to get people to use them. The liquor store doesn't even have any - you have to bring your own and some grocery stores will charge you 5 cents a bag if you don't have any. I wonder what kind of impact it would have had if they had instilled that 20 yrs ago.
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