San Marcos Foothills Preserve Closed Temporarily

Every year on Earth Day, we all pat ourselves on the backs for such small, basic acts as planting a tree or turning off the tap while brushing our teeth. But it's important to remember the destruction we can cause every other day of the year. Humans have turned screwing up the earth into an art form, skillfully wreaking havoc on the land, water and air through negligence, lack of concern or even the greedy desire to profit at all costs. American corporations are especially adept at causing severe damage to the environment and human health, and some of the worst offenders including Exxon Mobil, Monsanto and W.R. Grace have, by and large, gotten away with it. From knowingly dumping toxic chemicals into a stream where children play to willfully ignoring the potentially devastating weaknesses of their own facilities, men have managed to create destruction on earth that rivals the wrath of Mother Nature herself. On Earth Day, we should take stock of the impacts we have on the environment, which is part of the point of Earth Day. One environment impacting products is one you would never think of ? money. How we make our physical currency is interesting. Credit cards and debit cards are all made from petroleum products, usually from polyvinyl chloride, or PVC, a plastic that lasts forever and emits a highly toxic gas when burned. Paper money is biodegradable, but the manufacturing of it has significant impact, as well as growing the cotton used in making it.