HigginsHeatherMatrix1

=Green Sex=



Senator Max Baucus recently amended the Senate health care plan to include $400 million over five years for sex education. This s a large sum of money. Imagine if even a fraction of this were used towards teaching high school students about sustainability. There is an AP course, Environmental Science, which discusses sustainability issues. The curriculum includes how humans impact nature and the social context of environmental problems. This course was not offered at my high school. The College Board website does not state how many schools at which it is offered, though this number would be interesting. The New York State Regents does not have any sort of requirement for green education.

Researching this lead me to realizing that there are many aspects of safe sex that are not environmentally friendly. What is the proper way to dispose of a used condom? This is something most people would not even think about while doing the deed. The normal response is to flush the prophylactic. This is not the most green way to dispose of latex products. Once flushed condoms move towards the water treatment plant where they are either picked out or turned in sludge along with other solid waste. Throwing a condom in the garbage puts it into a landfill but not all of the materials will biodegrade. It is rare to find a completely biodegradable condom in today’s market, though maybe this would be a project for large corporations to look into.

Do not misinterpret the sustainable aspects of condoms. By aiding in lowering birth rates condoms do their part for a sustainable planet. Keeping the population in check is just one of many great things that condoms can do. They also stop the spread of sexually transmitted infections, keeping everyone who uses them in better health.

China has been recycling condoms to use as completely different products since 2007. In this year used condoms were recycled into hair bands. These hair bands were sold in sets of twenty-five at, what is equivalent to, three cents. All was fine until a link was found between people using these hair bands and the incidence of STIs. Apparently while tying back hair the person would hold the elastic ring in their mouth until ready to wrap it around the ponytail. A government official was quoted saying that the recycling of condoms was illegal.

One journal states “‘if you say to them that they have to use condoms, some of them might use them. It is like drinking alcohol or smoking.” This may not seem like a great mantra for safe sex, but if even some of the high school students exposed to sustainability pick up on it then the education was well worth everyone’s time.

Links:

[|The Condom Conundrum]

[|China Recycling Used Condoms]

Works Cited:

1. Thunder, James M. "Sex Ed. and Food Ed." //Daily Estimate//. 19 Feb. 2010. Web. 23 Mar. 2010. .

2. //Photobucket//. Web. 23 Mar. 2010. .

3. Saikat. "The Condom Conundrum." //About My Planet//. 22 July 2008. Web. 23 Mar. 2010. .

4. "Environmental Science." //College Board//. College Board. Web. 23 Mar. 2010. .

5. Castro-Vazquez, Genaro, and Izumi Kishi. "Sex Education." //Sex Education// 2.2 (2002): 105-77. Print.

6. "China Recycling Used Condoms as Cheap Hair Bands." //AFP//. Google, 12 Nov. 2007. Web. 23 Mar. 2010. .