Plastic on my mind

Recently I have been reading 'Cradle to Cradle' which questions our collective behavior of creating objects that have one purpose in their lifespan before being discarded, forever unusable in a giant garbage heap, somewhere else.  The book is simultaneously depressing (reading how much toxic stuff we wear/eat/breath/pretend we recycle) and inspiring, as its authors are committed to stopping our unsustainable ways by thinking out of the box by using natural systems as their inspiration.  God, just writing that part 'using natural systems' as a way of saying 'aren't you guys so clever' feels so ridiculous, because we all know damn well the Earth works way better than we want to realize, and honestly, our time of divide-and-conquer the natural world is long gone.  We certainly are in an era of realizing just how much material matter we make is affecting our health and well being, which is really all we have, right?

Great, and I'm all signed up to learn how to make more shit.

Then, last night I watched all 12 of the VBS series on the great Gyre of plastic garbage that is swirling in the North Pacific.  it was like watching an hour of a real Debbie Downer.

It is completely ridiculous that we get a plastic bag for every little thing our hands could carry, or that packaging could last infinitely longer than the product it carried.  All this stuff, all this behavior has really just become complacency on our part.  Of course each of us knows better, but hell that guy got a bag for each of his dozen eggs or a watermellon or the one apple he got for lunch at Whole Foods and put in that stupid clear plastic bag, so why would I do any differently?  Because we're a bunch of sheep who strive at every pass to live with more luxury in the moment, regardless of where or how these luxuries came to us or where their going.

Its not just about stupid plastic food bags, but just all the junk in general that we use for seconds or minutes and then discard or maybe if possible, recycled.  Very, very few products are made to have a second life, let alone be a part of a cycle.  Basically everything we use is providing a tool or service to use before its real destination:  the dump.  Sure you use your plastic grocery bag twice, but it still is goes to the dump, instead of your compost.

All in all, this is good motivation to guide my future studies.  I could spend the rest of my days bitching about how much we use and protesting and whining, but honestly, I expect to be part of the movement that will abandoned the currency of today and reconfigure how we create and use.  Its a huge ship to steer onto a new course, but don't you see how its necessary?

Comments

[Burt Hoovis]

Dude that's AWESOME!

You should see if you can build a bike out of your garbage and race it this cyclocross season!

Serously!
Burt

[A-ron]

We talked a ton about that in my Sociology class last semester. Eye opening. Human consumption is unbelievable.

[McGrumperston]

unfortunately, our country's economic health relies on our buying more shit. economists are freaking out that people are starting to NOT SPEND b/c they realize they can't afford to anymore.dear GAWD people don't put your check from GW in the BANK go to WALMART and buy more cheap-ass-lead-painted-toys for your overweight asthmatic children!