Trending
Thoughtless and destructive consumerism is running rampant in our country.
Our gullible citizens cannot seem to resist any temptations and fear-induced slick advertisements.
These manipulative messages are incessantly equating accumulating of material gadgets to happiness and good life. How many of us have now our garages full of junk that we hardly use?
We leave our expensive autos to be parked outside in the elements and are even renting storage space since we have run out of storage in our homes.
However, the latest controversy on how best to dispose huge toxic waste resulting from our Lahaina fire has introduced another equation into these ill effects of over-consumerism.
Being a small faraway island, we do not have any means to safely dispose increasingly toxic modern wastes resulting from our cycles of senseless consumption.
So, on Maui, we need to educate and/or require our residents and visitors to understand the delicate ecosystems of our small land mass and its limitations. They should be urged to consume sensibly to fulfill all their needs but let go some of their wants for the sake of our healthy and clean environment.
Our government policies can also help promote this by adding a rational disposal fee at the time of purchase of all items hard to dispose.
This fee, accumulated over time, can then be used for their proper disposal on or off the island. This is no different than the disposal charges we currently pay for disposal of our used lubricating oils for automobiles.
Hari Ajmani
Kula