Well I am angry. I am not sure what caused this anger, other
than a few minor things and the inability to sleep in my hostel last night...
yah that could be it. Either way, I am sick of living in this disposable waste
society. Get it together Australia!!! Thank goodness I am leaving soon. Gah.
The story:
Since I was feeling a bit blah and could use a pick-me-up I
decided to have a coffee at the airport. I shopped around for the best price
and I saw an organic fair trade stall! Hurrah. I decided that price aside I
would support them. Luck would have it, they were also the cheapest!! I am not quite sure how that worked out but I
wasn’t going to question it. All excited I got out my travel mug (so I wouldn’t
be creating any unnecessary waste J)
and approached the counter with my money. And then it took a turn for the
worst. My take away mug is too tall to fit under the machine (which I know) and
so she was unable to make me anything. Well no, that isn’t quite true. She
could make me a coffee in her paper cup and then I was allowed to pour it into
my own mug from there. And then she would throw away the cup. Well yes, that is
exactly what I wanted, what a wonderful suggestion. So I walked away from that
and went to another coffee shop, this one with the ability to make to stay
coffee.
Full of hope and anticipation I held onto my mug and
approached the counter. Sadly only slightly better news here. Apparently
(according to “Skybury Coffee”) reusable mugs pose a huge health and safety
threat with all the disease and contamination that the carry. The mug is not
allowed to cross the counter line. Again, they offered to make me a coffee and
I could pour it into my mug. I took them up on this offer since they at least
could use reusable glass to make the coffee, unlike the first place.
Clearly you have to pick and choose what to support. What is
better – less waste or fair wages? Well if we don’t decrease our waste
eventually we will be living in a dump. If we don’t support fair wages then
some people will continually be living in a dump. If we boycott the industry
together no one will get wages fair or not and we will end up with some really
cranky North Americans. Gah.
This did bring up one question for me, as all great
scientific research starts. What kind of contamination could possibly occur
with the bringing of your own mug? It seems quite odd to me that this problem
has never occurred to Canadians. To my understanding, Canadians are very
concerned with health and safety. You know, kids can’t touch each other at school
or day care anymore because tag is such a dangerous game. Don’t let them wear
scarves because they might choke (not that it is cold in Canada in the winter
or anything...). But the most important one of all, don’t let their backpacks
touch!! That is how all diseases spread. How is it possible that a country so
that so clearly controls health and safety could miss such an important issue?
We allow take away mugs everywhere!! In fact, most places even give a discount
to customers who bring them. Oh dear. Clearly Canada is going to go downhill.
Thank goodness all the coffee drinkers in Australia will be safe.
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