How can safety regulations harm the environment? Read on.
The inspiration for this post came from my misunderstanding of a tweet from a good twitter contact @rosysparkles last week.
In the months that Rosy and I have been in the same twitter group of writers, she has always been positive and supportive of others. I enjoy her tweets because she has an incisive wit and a brilliant sense of humour. She likes dogs too which is a big plus in my opinion.
I saw the “WhyImUnhappy..” bit and assumed my virtual friend was a damsel in some sort of distress. Making the typical male mistake of trying to fix things, I responded with an “it can’t be too bad” sort of tweet. Rosy soon corrected me, she was not unhappy about her situation. She was unhappy with what we are doing to the world, pollution, environmental harm and destroying nature.
Although I am convinced that some global warming crusaders have a hidden political agenda, I am concerned about the environment. 7 billion people on this planet must have an effect, even if it’s only raising temperatures by a fraction of a degree from our collective body heat and a lot more from the clouds of hot air spouted by politicians.
My concern is that over regulation and political correctness are making the problem worse, not helping it. Here’s a glaring example.
Baby Chair Safety Regulations Harm The Environment
I wrote in an earlier post that after huge expenses and two years of frustration with the immigration procedures, my younger son gave up his attempt to remain in Canada as a permanent resident and took his family back to the uncertainties of Zimbabwe.
Soon after arriving in Canada, his wife had been given an almost new baby high chair for their younger daughter. It was still in excellent condition when they left last year. They could not take it with them and decided to donate it to a thrift shop or charity rather than sell it. They visited three charities in our small city and were told that as they did not have the instruction manual or certification details for the chair it could not be reused.
So a perfectly serviceable and safe chair that a desperate mother would have been overjoyed to receive went to the landfill. A few more kilograms of plastic to pollute the planet.
We criticise African governments for corruption, and a disregard for human life among other crimes – that criticism is well deserved. However, in some respects the developing and badly governed countries show more common sense than our supposedly enlightened Western governments.
In Zimbabwe, that chair would have been a prized possession. It would probably have served 20 more toddlers before it was repaired with wire, sticks and duct tape, then been good for a few more. Finally, when it eventually fell to pieces, the bits would be repurposed as toys or to repair other household items.
Safety regulations, instruction manuals and certification details would have been of no interest. If a child fell out of the chair, the thought of sueing in an attempt to become an instant millionaire would never enter a grateful parent’s mind. The child would have been picked up, dusted off, put back in the chair and told to sit properly.
Conclusion
Yes, we should be concerned about how fossil fuels, agricultural chemicals and plastic pollution harm the environment. But it’s ludicrous that over-regulation is making the problem far worse than it should be. This was one small example of how safety regulations harm the environment. A little digging uncovers many more – especially in the area of food safety where tons of food are needlessly condemned with all the material and energy inputs wasted. Just ask your local supermarket how much food is discarded because it has reached its sell-by date or a refrigerated display unit has been without power for a few minutes. If there is a safety concern for discarded food being eaten by humans, then use it for animals. Or if that is too much hassle, at least compost it so that its nutrients can be used to grow more food.
What do you think? Leave a comment.
