Running The Numbers
Waste is a bit of a sticky issue in the USA. Our recycling is sketchy and impractical at best, and the city I live in, NYC ships tons of garbage to New Jersey on a daily basis. YECK. Sometimes things need to be seen on the scale of impact ot be truly appreciated. Everest certainly looks tall to me, but on paper it just can't convey justice. Artist Chris Jordan's Running the Numbers "series looks at contemporary American culture through the lens of statistics. Each image portrays a specific quantity of something: fifteen million sheets of office paper (five minutes of paper use); 106,000 aluminum cans (thirty seconds of can consumption) and so on... Statistics can feel abstract and anesthetizing, making it difficult to connect with and make meaning of 3.6 million SUV sales in one year, for example, or 2.3 million Americans in prison, or 426,000 cell phones retired every day."
Beautifully poignant, this is a reminder of the world we populate and impact everyday. What is waste? Is it the wrapper left behind after we eat a sandwich or is it something that is dissolvable, sustainable or reusable in another avenue of life? Heck New York city's foundations were built on garbage and dead livestock. Its time we consider the lifestyle of things before we produce and consumer them. Reduce your impact and improve your life.
via core 77
Running the Numbers
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2 comments:
What is waste? Great question. I'm going to think about it and get back to you...
I live in Portland. We make green living seem easier than most cities and some site said we were the #1 most sustainable city in the U.S. Pretty cool. Ok, enough high-fiving, but what I wanted to talk about is the notion of sustainable. We give back and enjoy re-using things here.
I think sustainability needs a campaign. It can be easier to re-use, re-give, re-duce, etc. As creative people, we need to think up more tools and ideas to give to consumers so they can start implementing a new way to think. Sustainable isn't hard and it isn't just for hippies. It's for smart people that take 2 extra seconds to think about dividing the recyle from the trash; or taking used clothes to the thrift store; or buying used clothes when you don't need something "new."
Anyway, the sustainability trend is cool and happening.
Thanks for the comment erin. Im so glad that eco-consciousness is in the air and on people's tongues (to stay hopefully). I dont think we necessarily have to drastically alter our lives, so much as look at the process of consumption from start to finish. Coming from a small town to living in a big city, urban consumption blows my mind with the amount of excess we have. I think we could learn alot from places like Portland on how to consume and structure our economies for a green future.
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