Can you handle the truth?

As passionate as I am about certain issues, I still have so much to learn. The environmental thing, for instance: I have strong convictions, but I don’t always understand how the issues interact with each other. Some of my passions were birthed relatively recently. As long as the situation remains nebulous in my mind, I can hide behind my lack of understanding. But when my understanding increases thanks to reliable sources of information, I often feel a huge weight coming down on me. Now that I know the truth about this, how am I going to live? Am I ready to make the tough choices in order to do what is right? Sometimes ignorance is so much easier to bear than the truth.
That being said, I wanted to share two links with you that have been eye-opening to me, to say the least. I guess they would both fit into the environmental category. If you’ve been feeling comfortable for a while, they will probably make you feel. . . um. . . disturbed?

This article is about what plastic is doing to our environment, in particular the ocean. It is well written and sort of long, but I think it is well worth reading. I’ll warn you, though: It’s very disturbing.

And Better World Shopper rates well-known companies by their social and environmental responsibility on a scale from A+ to F. For example, what rankings would you guess mainstream peanut-butter brands would receive? Turns out that JIF, Laura Scudder, and Smuckers all get a B-, which isn’t too terrible. Skippy gets a D+, and Peter Pan gets an F. Huh. What do you think of that?
It’s kind of interesting to find out how the products I buy stack up when they are rated for social and environmental responsibility — from fast food to athletic shoes to paper. Check it out for yourself.

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