Finite resources

I was watching the toddler

Looking at family pictures 

As she is want to do

And she sits and points out toys we no longer own

And I start to think that if we had all 14 years of toys amassed

We would need several rooms dedicated to the task

And we are by no means a family of affluence

So how can it be

That we are so engulfed into this consumerism 

When I think I take an active stance against it. 

I know the earths resources are finite. 

Yet I wish we hadn't spiraled so out of control

I wish they made toys that lasted 

And electronics that weren't meant to be replaced every few years

I think people know this intuitively

Yet. Stress. Convenience. Selfishness. Disregard

Has led people to behave as if this should be normal 

As if individually packaged goods with tons of inserts and plastic 

Is a good thing. 

I don't understand completely and yet I feel compassion

For a society that has led itself down this path willingly

As consumers

And producers have complied 

And those that fight the tide and have been fighting it

Are sometimes seen as outcasts

For not towing the line

Following the status quo

It's sad really. 

To think that each of us individually

Could be doing so much in just our simple daily lives

In simple unobtrusive ways

To make the world a better place

And yet. We succumb to the grand illusion that nothing we do matters

That what we waste is ours for the wasting 

And as I try in my small way to recycle

To pass on usable goods

To buy used whenever possible

To use reusable containers as much as convenient and possible

To make my own difference

Without living completely without

I wonder

Why?

Why have we grown to believe that which simply is not true

To whose benefit is it for us to believe this?

I don't have the answer for that. 

I just know. We have to take these blinders off

We have to see how each thing we do and speak 

Even what we think

Makes a drastic difference in the world 

Not just our world

The entire world

Things must change

Resources must be conserved

Earth must be appreciated and preserved

As best we possibly can 

And we have to do this

Before we destroy it

Completely.