Trash and Trash

I have always been a bit picky about wasting energy and water. More cos back home in India these two things hit real hard. I also loathed the site of plastic trash sliding down the cliff, which is a common sight in most of the hill stations in India. so is the case with trash thrown out of the trains and busses in public places.
But then after coming to the US, I find that the Americans for sure have to be generating more trash than India per year, though India boasts of a population 3.7 times that of the US.
Everywhere you find paper disposal kits, plastic spoons, forks, bags, paper and still lot more. US is bestowed with so much natural beauty and so many natural resources, that it doesn’t take satellite imagery and advanced studies to figure that out. But still it is pretty sad to see that there is hardly any effort taken by people to save on paper. Many a times its cos they have got so very much used to consuming things that saving for later and regulating supply seems like alien technology. To my surprise, I was even once asked why I print papers on both sides, cos it is supposedly difficult for the readers to turn the papers over to read!!!! Thats something you would not expect an Indian to say or at least I have never heard anyone speaking that way. Even the way the buildings are constructed here seem to be consuming so much energy, with heavily tinted windows blocking natural sunlight to enter the office space. Instead they prefer lighting up the interiors. And in India I would assume most of the places have either tube lights and affluent sections might use the CFL bulbs, but here most of the people still use the conventional amber coloured light bulb which is supposed to gobble up power. And I don’t need to mention how fuel is consumed here... not literally... but by the vehicles. The number of 4-wheelers is astounding. I would hope if it was India, the people would have started a road roko bandh to ask the govt. for providing public transportation. But here traveling in public transportation apart from aircrafts is almost like a taboo. Leaving apart the long distance railway system which is priced at par with flight services. There are certain cites in this country, like Boston, New York, Chicago where public transportation is pretty much the bloodline, but majority of it still lacks the basic thought. And the sight of streaked lines of the gases left behind by the aircraft up above in the sky is not a rare event... The sky is generally cris-crossed with it, (read as ripping apart the ozone).
I came across this article few hours back. Am just amazed by how much damage we cause to our own planet. A person would India would consider India filthy and trashy. But I believe we live with less, we have got in our way of living to consume and use less and save. But in America, it hardly pinches anyone when they use rolls of paper to clean their kitchen or paper towels to wipe of their hands or dispose off all their flatware after use. No hard feelings against the Americans, but lets practice before we preach. This is not just with the trash, but also with nuclear weapons, politics, war, environment, fuel consumption and lots more. There is a lot that this civilized and developed country needs to learn, starting with living SIMPLE.

PS: Punctuation marks are not my forte.