Magical Cat's Corner

Superbugs and Trash

We live in a disposable society. Everything is thrown away, only to end up rotting ever so slowly in a landfill somewhere. I've often wondered where those landfills are and how close people are allowed to live. Surely the smell is overwhelming. I've never seen a landfill in person. I have no idea where my trash goes once it's picked up by the trash truck. Given the amount of trash generated by Americans, one would think the landfills would be reaching our own backyards at this point.

I have seen several products lately that make me wonder "Why?" because they are just adding to the problem. One of them is a plastic crock pot liner. You cook your food in a plastic bag lining the crock pot, and when you're done, you throw the liner away. What a waste! It's not that hard to wash the crock pot when you're done. Plus, just think of all the plastic chemicals that could be seeping into your food while it simmers all day long. Bon Appetit!

Another wasteful product is the toilet wand that has a throw away scrubber. After you scrub the toilet, you release the scrubber and flush it down the toilet. Yet another piece of unnecessary garbage. The basis for this wonder product is germs. The advertisers try to scare us into buying products like this with the threat of germs, but little do people realize that there are probably fewer germs on the toilet brush than on their tooth brush. This brings me to my next topic.

Not only are we creating mountains of trash every day, we are also creating superbugs. Every cleaning product is anti-bacterial now. You can't even find liquid hand soap that is NOT anti-bacterial. We are killing the good bacteria while trying so hard to get rid of the bad bacteria. The result is that the bacteria are evolving into superbugs: bugs that have developed a resistance to antibiotics. This problem, like the disposable products, can be traced back to companies trying to make a profit. "You must get rid of those bacteria, now here is the product to do so!" There is one commercial in particular where a woman is washing down her kitchen with a raw chicken breast. "If you're not using x product, you might as well be doing this", the commercial says. I never had salmonella growing up, and my mom didn't have these products. Good old soap and water works just fine. I try not to be sucked in to these gimmicks, but some of them do make life easier. Now excuse me while I go Swiffer the floor.