Plastic Mass

Hopefully if you’re at this site and reading this you are well aware of the alternatives to using disposable bottles and recycle the ones you do. The advent of bottled water sent our already wasteful consumer culture into pollution overdrive and it’s a tremendous task to put the brakes on the momentum of this waste. Here is a list of plastic bottle fun facts that put the magnitude of this pollution into scope.

* Plastic bottles take 700 years to begin composting
* 90% of the cost of bottled water is due to the bottle itself
* 80% of plastic bottles are not recycled
* 38 million plastic bottles go to the dump per year in America from bottled water (not including soda)
* 24 million gallons of oil are needed to produce a billion plastic bottles
* The average American consumes 167 bottles of water a year
* Bottling and shipping water is the least energy efficient method ever used to supply water
* Bottled water is the second most popular beverage in the United States

Although it can be easy and convenient to pick up bottle beverage products the end cost to the environment is staggering. So be mindful when you drink…and remember, friends don’t let friends drink from disposables!

Tin Ore Extraction: Congo, Africa

This is a short video, with beautiful photography, from a New York Times reporter about tin ore extraction, take a look.

The Cult We're In

Culture Jam: Black Friday

The images above were taken in the wee hours on 'Black Friday'. Ironic to me that one resembles a soup kitchen line...

The shopping day following Thanksgiving, known as 'Black Friday' was coined such after retail marketing encouraged consumers to shop for more and for longer hours and it was seen to have a very measurable economic effect. Arguably one of the busiest shopping days of the year, 'Black Friday' turns retailers bottom line from red to black (off the charts).

This day is a perfect example of how our popular culture feeds the consumer bingers we have become. Buy buy buy buy. The more we buy the more we waste, and more rubbish we make. More energy is consumed to make what we buy. More human rights are violated (How do you think Old Navy makes $5 T-Shirts?). Sadly enough, we should all know by now that more stuff does not equal more happiness, but we are addicted to consumerism.

Kalle Lasn, the King of culture jamming and ADbusters has called to our attention that America is "no longer a country but a million-dollar brand". How can we stop this consumer binge? We must look deep into the heart of the matter: what our culture is made of. Lasn has proposed that we adopt a 'Buy Nothing Day', in turn, we could all learn a thing or two about being resourceful and "making do" with what we already have.

What do you think about 'Black Friday' and what it says about our country?

What do you think about the fact that young N. Americas have the highest debt rates in history?
How is this connected to our culture and the tendency to buy buy buy?

Elaborate on 'Ecology of the Mind'...

What are you thoughts after reading 'Autumn' (Lasn, K., Culture Jam)?

If you plan to buy less- how and why? Propose a 'self plan'...

This is also open to any lingering thoughts you may have after discussion.