Having walked for miles around the city I am worn and thirsty, so as she turns to leave, I ask the waitress for more ice in my water. Coming fully around, fixing her eyes on me for what seems like several seconds, she takes a small wooden bowl from my table and without a word, turns and leaves. In a moment she’s back with three small, slightly melted cubes, looks at me again, and then pushes the bowl across the table and disappears.

“Okay then…” I think. “Welcome to Paris!” I have no idea what just happened but it’s pretty clear Restaurant Chartiere has some unreasonable request areas and I’ve just wandered into one of them.

I sat back in my chair, and for all my enchantment with Europe and this city, I was thinking about America. I was thinking about ice, lots of ice, lots and lots of napkins, and plenty of whatever else I thought I needed.

And then I heard it. “LAND OF PLENTY” The words from my 5th grade civics book all of a sudden came back to me with this sort of “Now I get it. THAT’s what they were talking about.” I was surprised as the words whispered in me at first, then a little more, and then maybe I even said them right out loud.

“Excuse me sir?” asked a waiter passing by.

But I was lost. I was thinking about home and how it was the answer to a lot of things that never really came up. They didn’t have to. We lived in a place where we expressed our pride and goodwill everyday with “Would you like another?” “Here, take a few extras, you might need them.” “C’mon, don’t be shy, help yourself. That’s what they’re for!”

Still, in the chorus of a recent Zero 7 song “The Space Between”, they sing, “Always so sure, we always take more, though we still don’t know what it’s for.”

What happened to the Land of Plenty idea? Well, what happened is it’s now 2009 in America and time to start waking up to what a lot of others have known for quite awhile. I know it’s different, but maybe our “Land of Plenty” has become “Land of a Little Too Much”.

Here’s an idea. Forget about your diet, and over the next couple of days find your way to some fast food restaurants. In each one, order something simple “to go”. When you get to the car, open the bag and take an inventory of what’s in there other than the item you ordered.

At one restaurant for example, ordering one egg roll, I automatically received two plastic containers of dipping sauce A, two plastic containers of dipping sauce B, a spork [look it up] approximately 6-8 napkins, and enough packaging to make sure that little egg roll didn’t escape before I pried him out of his cell.

At another place, I ordered a basic hamburger and got four ketchups, two mustards, three salts, one pepper, a hearty packet of mayonnaise, just four napkins this time, two sheets of some really fun stickers and military-strength packaging for my sandwich, weighing in at slightly less than the hamburger itself.

I know, I know… not everyone eats their food right away in the car outside the restaurant. It’s got to be hot when you get there, and heaven help us if you come up one ketchup packet short of the fine dining experience they promised.

But seriously, where does all that extra stuff go? Some save it and use it. Some save it but couldn’t possibly use all of it. Sadly though, too much of it gets thrown away.

So, what’s wrong with that?

Actually, the problem isn’t as much in the disposal as the manufacturing needed to make it in the first place. Manufacturing requires power, which most often is produced using one or more natural earth elements. Throughout the process, manufacturing expels a variety of pollutants that now must enter the earth or atmosphere. Breaking these down into something even slightly less harmful is, at best, only somewhat successful.

No, it’s not just the ketchup or the napkins. It’s a lot of things, almost everywhere you look and even where you don’t look. Gallons of wasted water, food thrown away, plastic packaging, tires, cars, machines, paper… the list you’ve seen a hundred times keeps getting longer. The mathematical details of destruction to the earth are so out of control that anyone might ask what any one person could possibly do about it at this point?

Maybe just start by being aware. Admit you live on this planet and you’re either helping or hurting. When you order food or a coffee for example, ask for just one or two napkins. They’ll look at you like you’re nuts but do it anyway. They’ll start to get the message and you’ll feel so proud of yourself for at least a minute or two you’ll probably do it again someplace. Bingo. Two more minutes of growing pride and a few more people made aware. That’s the way most things like this get better.

The good news is things indeed are getting better. Companies like Honda, Patagonia, Kohls, Aveda, Wal-mart and many others are seeing the value in being “green.” Their motivations are more multifaceted however, and understandably, they have the PR strength to make a really big deal about even the small things they do.

But keep in mind, leading “green” companies ultimately are run by people, and for some their own personal concerns can be as simple as yours or mine. They have kids, they live in houses, they eat food, they drive cars, and buy products, every one of which impacts our planet’s math, or how our collective negatives and positives add up.

Perhaps all those years ago, Mademoiselle Marie at Restaurant Chartiere was a little too huffy with me about her ice, but maybe not. Maybe they didn’t have a super power pumping ice machine that spit out 2,000 mind-numbing cubes every 10 minutes whether they needed them or not, and most patrons were just fine with that.

My Dad told me once that America was such an amazing place no matter what problem we had, we’d find a way to fix it. I still believe that. But this is a different time. Not just for us, but for the whole planet. And as much power and strength as our governments and leaders have, they can’t force you to personally care more about this. They can’t make you feel good about taking a little less, using something a little longer, or giving something back when it’s too much. That’s up to you.

So what does our world look like when we get better at this? Well, it will change slowly but so will you. You’ll breathe a little more easily, the sky will get brighter, you’ll see more clearly, food should taste better, and you’ll probably live a little longer. And deep down, perhaps one of the things that will make you feel the best is that – one napkin at a time – you had something to do with it.