7/06/2008 found through Wordsmith.org

Catholicon: panacea, cure-all

In the early 1900’s, the automobile was seen as an ecological catholicon against the pollution caused by the prevalent form of transportation: the horse-drawn carriage.

Today’s S-UWTOD was inspired by an article I read on mental_floss about the problems caused by the massive quantities of horse effluent in cities around the late 19th/early 20th century, not to mention the thousands of horse carcasses left rotting in the streets.

The article also got me thinking about the trade-offs that technology give us. Cars helped clean up the horse pollution but may have ended up causing a worse state in the long run. As we’re frantically trying to “greenify” to make up for hundreds of years of industrial pollution et cetera, a few moments should be taken to consider what side effects these alternatives may cause later on. Compact fluorescent lightbulbs are much more efficient than incandescent bulbs in most applications, but how much mercury will end up in our landfills and groundwater because of them?