economicmultipliers_94

Economic Multipliers (94)

Do you know what these are?

They help CREATE wealth in systems.

Understanding other people’s frames of reference is an economic multiplier if it helps communities function better.

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When I see people smoking … particularly young people … I many times think: They look too physically fit to be a smoker … I wonder who got them started? … I hope they always stay healthy.

I think good thoughts (which I do not always have unfortunately) bring good luck.

As a walker, I’ve noticed over the years that I rarely see cigarette butts anywhere any more. That leads me to believe that most cigarette smokers are highly responsible people.

But because I’ve a couple times helped some individuals involved in Special Olympics pick up trash (including cigarette butts (wear gloves)), if I ever saw someone dispose of one inappropriately I would think (of them): That person probably has a lot more opportunities than many of the individuals involved in Special Olympics and it’s pretty amazing that they would think that they should make life harder for them (or anyone else).

I could be imagining it but at a local fundraiser that I’ve sometimes attended, I’ve noticed that people are getting better at putting their recyclables and trash in designated containers so cleanup takes less time and the individuals who set up the park cleanup and recycling (like those involved in Special Olympics) can earn more money for their programs. Likewise, I’ve never met anyone involved in Special Olympics who thought it was OK to throw trash on the ground: I think people call that social intelligence.

When I first moved to Colorado, I thought that Coloradans were very ‘trashy’ in comparison to Wisconsinites because I saw quite a bit of trash along the highway. I stopped along the highway one day when I lived in Maine and realized that in areas with a lot of vegetation, the trash just gets ‘hidden.’ We’re lucky when road maintenance crews and people who get involved in activities like Make a Difference Day make a POSITIVE difference when others are running in reverse.

It never occurred to me until I lived in an area where you had to pay for trash pickup that people who were living ‘on the edge’ might not have money for that service. Some people would actually throw their bags of trash out along the road just because they did not know what to do with them. And you don’t want them to burn the trash if it contains plastics … some which can create dioxins … a toxin easily spread in ash which can be taken up by plants and animals.

When your community has a list that directs you to the many places you can properly dispose of things and sets up ‘short distance’ drop off points occasionally to make it even easier, you know that a lot of people are trying to make your life better and you hope that you can somehow do the same for them.

Dry wells (wells finished off above the water table) have been banned for years in the United States. Today researchers speculate that some of the compounds originally dumped into those wells can cause heart defects and other problems in newborn children. Of course no one ever wants their child to be or get sick: People just weren’t thinking. We’re lucky that so many people today pay attention to the quality of well water and the things they would dump on and in the soil and water.

If you’ve ever walked a dog in an urban area, you know that a plastic bag turned inside out and used like a glove to pick up any waste works great. I never see any dog walkers in the community I live in without one when the need arises.

If you ever want to know whether an individual or community aspires to great things, pay attention to how they deal with their waste.

I’ll always wish that every smoker that I see didn’t smoke (I can’t help it) but it’s nice to know that when I’m out walking, almost all of them seem to be very responsible individuals.