Thousands of Dead Pigs Found in Chinese River

This week's blog headline is brought to you by the lovely and wonderful New York Times. Obviously I picked it because it's attention-grabbing, but also I think it's a perfect way to bring up something I've wanted to talk about for a while.

The headline (as well as the actual story) is scary, horrifying, gross, sad and so many other of the world's worst feelings, but here's a question for you: What if the dead pigs were just a metaphor? What if your water was so polluted, your air so poisoned, that there might as well be thousands of dead, rotting and possibly diseased animals in your drinking water, because honestly, what would be the difference?

China has been facing incredible and horrendous pollution issues for the last couple years, Reuters even claiming that the air pollution levels are the worst ever recorded. (By "worst," think 35-to-40 times the level known to cause asthma and other breathing issues.) Rivers are literally running red, a color previously reserved for the end-of-the-world only, and the smoke is so thick in some cities it's like a permanent fog that is also probably going to kill you. Reported cases of lung cancer are up 56 percent, the smog is allegedly visible from space, and even the state-controlled media is criticizing the government over the situation. If you want to see some of this lovely imagery for yourself, go ahead and do a Google image search for "China Pollution." (Or you can click this link to the one I've done for you already.)

So what does this have to do with you, or even promotional products in general? Well, while it's true that China itself is ultimately responsible for the state of its country, cities and people, I think it's fair to say that our reliance on it for manufacturing plays a part as well.