When Rick and I purchased our bicycles we didn't want full-fledged mountain bikes nor did we want street racers so we settled for our all-terrain type bikes with shocks for comfort. It amazed me to find that the fenders that we wanted were now an added expensive option and they are made of plastic! I remember there was a time when fenders were a standard fixture that we would remove (to be cool) and they were made of metal, a far more resilient material. So much for progress! This morning while riding my bicycle, I was driving along the street and hit some of the debris on the road left over from last night's storm. A small broken tree branch bounced up, hitting my fender and cracked it. I thought of another bicycle I had when I was a youngster and some of the terrain I had ridden on, never once causing the damage I received today.

This same scenario plays over and over again in this disposable world we live in. Metal is often replaced by plastic for many reasons, one being to reduce weight but ultimately I think it comes down to saving money (for the manufacturer). Many of you can relate to the fact that appliances that used to last for years now need to be replaced or repaired in a much shorter duration. The sad thing is that these things have not dropped in price, just quality, and of course that means we buy them more often. The same principal applies to vehicles and all of it in turn means more garbage to leave behind for future generations.

We as consumers need to demand better quality from suppliers and as product providers need to think about our future generations when manufacturing things. If big businesses were made to realize, through taxes or fines that their responsibility goes far beyond this moment, perhaps the need for landfill sites would be reduced and we could leave this world in a condition to be proud of. It's a great dream though, isn't it?