Planet Garbage

It's birds, it's planes. Insects? No! It's garbage in space.

"The lack of regulation and the current gold rush approach to space exploration mean that space junk and waste will continue to accumulate, as will the related problems and dangers." 

- Chris Impey

 

Homo sapiens would be better labeled as homo garbagiens. 

We produce garbage at an alarming rate, because we aren't as shmart as we give ourselves credit for. 

The entire consumer system is reliant on us continuing to participate in its garbage economy. No waste - no economy as we know it.

It's what we do - make waste. It is one of the best ways to flaunt your wealth. More stuff equals more garbage. More garbage means more stuff.

This sickness has spread to all points of the Earth.

There is garbage at the bottom of the deepest trench in our oceans.

There is garbage at the top our our tallest mountain.

There is garbage in remote parts of the world, far away from the people who produced it.

Finally, not to leave any place pristine and free our our wasteful ways, there is garbage in space, including on the Moon.

So much, in fact, that there is some danger of making our upper reaches dangerous places for satellites as well as astronauts and their space ships.

It is so dangerous that a lot of money is spent identifying and tracking some of the larger, more threatening chunks circling our planet.

Many people wonder why intelligent life has never contacted us. I have a theory.

Probably because they came, took one look at how we have ringed our planet in garbage, and correctly surmised that any life form that soils its own nest to the extent we have is more garbagiens than sapiens, and best avoided.

Or, alien life has come to meet us, rammed their silver sausage space ship into a piece of space junk while trying to land, and burned up in the atmosphere in fiery crashes.

"Oh, look, a pretty meteorite," we say, looking to the sky as our curious alien visitors burn to a crisp and land in the ocean somewhere.

Welcome to Planet Garbage.

How do we fix this, in space as well as on the ground?

Live more simply. 

I know - it is my answer for just about everything. But it works, and I know from years of personal experience.

It is amazing at how effectively cutting down on what we do and what we consume cuts down on garbage production.

No garbage in - no garbage out.

Let's clean up our act, then put out the welcome mat on Planet Pristine.