McDonald's could be a much better corporate citizen--quickly and easily

 

A friend of mine goes to McDonald's each and every morning for breakfast and I've joined him at times (for the oatmeal, hold the brown sugar, thanks very much) so I've been reminded lately who they are and what they do. It had been some time--years, really--since I'd been in.

And a few things occurred to me.

The first is that how much each of them, separately, and then all of them, together end up putting into the waste dumps in the country and world daily and yearly.

Then, a great, easy, intelligent solution to it all also occurred to me.

All the McDonald's across the country need to institute plastic and paper recycling programs and as soon as possible.

If you think about it, everything they generate, from their meals, is either plastic or paper, right off those trays.

If they were to recycle all that, can you imagine the millions of pounds of both they could recycle each year?

It would be fantastic.

And the great thing about it is that it would be simple and easy for them to do.  Think about this. They have all those waste receptacles, already in their restaurants (using the word very loosely, no disrespect meant).  If they were simply and inexpensively labeled "Plastic" on one and "Paper" on the one next to it, the patrons could--again, quickly and easily--dispose of each in the respective container. Then, the employee whose job it is to keep up with the dining room could pull out those bags from the containers, collect them and have them placed in the restaurant for pickup.

So simple.  No additional cost, either, with the exception of the small signs needed.

Then, for McDonald's, what a public relations boon for them. Total win.  They could advertise that the people could come get the same food they always did and now, with this, it could also be a far greener experience.

Will it happen?

I doubt it.  I hope it but doubt it seriously.

It's got to start somewhere. 

This would be a great time and place.

Some Muslims, at least, don't seem to get PR

From the Star today: TERROR TERM: "A Massachussetts man convicted of conspiring to help al-Qaida was sentenced Thursday to 17-1/2 years in prison after giving an impassioned speech in which he declared his love for Islam and predicted one day his trial would be viewed differently. His family and supporters gave Tarek Mehanna a standing ovation as he was led from the court." See? Here's the problem--the problem isn't, for me, with Islam or Muslims at all. The problem is with people who support terrorist groups. You and I could believe in everything political but if you support a terrorist group to gain your goals, we part ways. And this, like I say, is what at least some Muslims don't seem to understand. In the case above, if he simply practiced his Muslim religion, good for him. Supposedly there are words of peace in the Koran (Quran). Terrific. That's as it should be. But if you stand up and cheer for someone who gave money to a terrorist organization, you have definite public relations problems at least in the country where the case took place, if not in the world. It reminds me once again of the question: "Can't we all just get along?"

The Final lesson from Deepwater Horizon and the Gulf

Let's face facts, kids--BP won. While watching the news this morning, I saw one of their ads, showing a Black woman--from Louisiana herself, she said--doing her best job to make sure the oil slick mess would be cleaned up and all done right and well. Right then, I knew BP had won. Though they had soiled and spoiled hundreds of square miles of the Gulf of Mexico and Gulf coast beaches and killed untold amounts of sea life, they are successfully painting the picture on TV and in the media that they are the "good guys" in all this and that they've "done right" and good by everyone in the Gulf and America. Forget their short-sighted money saving and carelessness that caused all this pollution and killing of wildlife, they tell that they're cleaning up the Gulf and treating everyone down there "A-okay" so, gosh, what's your problem, America? So they'll get away with this debacle. Indeed, they apparently already have. And it will happen again. Maybe by BP and maybe not but it will happen again. Americans just don't learn from history. Or facts.