There are many things I think about when I think of McDonalds, and being green isn’t one of them. According to an article on Sustainable Life Media, McDonalds has released their green – sustainable best practices, with the urging that their customers vote for “best of the best”. The report apparently highlights over 80 best practices from numerous McDonald’s markets that cover initiatives such as energy reduction, green packaging design, customer engagement on environmental issues, and greener supply chain management. Here are some of the highlights from the article:

Information and inspiration through innovative software – McDonald’s France’s use of an interactive software, EcoProgress, to manage and reduce energy usage in the restaurant, achieved an 11% savings in electricity for participating restaurants over the same three month period between 2007 and 2006.

Water conservation in Australia - McDonald’s Australia has implemented a variety of water conservation measures including extensive landscaping and smart irrigation practices. Advanced stormwater retention tanks can save almost four million liters of water over a 20-year period.

Supporting the development of Biodiesel - In Brazil, Chile and Argentina, McDonald’s has partnered with local organizations that transform used cooking oil into biodiesel. Currently, 270 restaurants in these markets deliver their used oil to be converted into biodiesel, representing over 1,000,000 liters of oil to date.

Creating a gold standard for green design - In August, 2008, McDonald’s USA opened its first corporate-owned pilot green restaurant and received Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Gold certification in April, 2009. This “green building lab” in Chicago will help McDonald’s USA refine its green building strategy and identify practices that can be incorporated into future restaurants.

Engaging our employees and consumers on climate change – McDonald’s Japan participates in the Japanese government’s Team Minus 6% program to reduce CO2 emissions by 1kg per person, per day, by offering a discount to consumers who registered to participate in the program. During the 2007 campaign, McDonald’s Japan helped raise the number of participants from 40,000 to 380,000.

Uh, I don’t think so.

The idea of  “green-washing” really gets under my skin, but on some levels I think any step to raise the consciousness is a good one. A fellow designer (Ronny Bagdadi ) posted this message in response to asking the community what they thought and I think his words sum it up quite niceley:

All life depends on topsoil, the thin layer of nutrient-rich earth. 200 years ago the US had 21 inches of topsoil, today we have about 6 inches left. About 6000 sq. miles of land are cleared every year to raise livestock or about 10,000 acres/day. Land clearing leads to topsoil running off into the rivers and sea. It takes about 500 years for nature to create 1″ of topsoil. One lb of California beef requires 5200 gallons of water; one lb. of lettuce, tomatoes, potatoes or corn each require 24 gallons.

Going vegetarain is the most powerful way to protect the environment, and to prevent needless suffering of millions of sentient beings with nervous systems and brains just like ours. Going to SF on the 5N one is overwhelmed by the stench of filth and death as one drives past “Cowschwitz”

When McD’s stops selling flesh it will be green, until then it’s PR/marketing BS sold to naive folk.

I have always supported “little steps…” among those that are just waking up to the global consciousness. On some levels, this is that step, even though we are talking about McDonalds. I suppose if they are exposing and awaking consciousness to the importance of green issues among those who don’t have a channel to that info, that’s positive. Next step might be “McDonalds the Vegetarian Restaurant”…After that, I can only hope…

However in the great scope of things, I don’t believe McDonalds gives a shit about anything but thier bottom line.

What I am talking here is a matter of green. We in the jungle strive to work with socially and ecologically conscious businesses or those trying to be. We’re not perfect, heck, nobody is, so we’ve been told. But, there is a difference between just capitalizing on the green movement and really walking the walk.

In the jungle, we believe in a little thing we like to call ‘captivism’. As the name implies, it is the implementation of socially conscious business practices which are both sustainable and profitable. Being green can make dollars and sense, when it’s done right. We’d like to make ‘captivism’ part of your vocabulary as well.

So, how does one captivate through capitalism? It’s quite simple, really. You can be big, small and in between, so long as you make an effort to promote, practice and implement good business practices. And by ‘good’, we mean simply socially and ecologically aware philosophies and means of doing business. If you walk the walk, we can help.

From an interview with Studs Terkel, who died recently at 96:

Studs Terkel

“My mother ran a hotel, the Wells-Grand Hotel, for men, just outside Chicago’s skid row. Skilled workers. Mechanics. Guys with jobs here and there. Some retired. It was fine. The lobby in the hotel was empty in the daytime. It was just a little room, and at night they’d come play hearts and pinochle. Then came 1929. Suddenly they’re not working. Or those guys who retired, suddenly their pensions are gone. Now they’re in the lobby in the daytime. They don’t know what the hell to do. So they drank more. And played the horses more. And there were fights. What were the fights over? Their own self-respect. I mean, they had nothing to do. They were furious. Who do you blame? Who do you hit? You hit each other. That was sort of a metaphor for what happened to the country. They blamed themselves. Yet I met these people who weathered it one way or the other, some just by lending a hand.

The lessons of the Great Depression? Don’t blame yourself. Turn to others. Take part in the community. The big boys are not that bright. Hope dies last “La esperanza muere˛ltima.” Without hope, you can’t make it. And so long as we have that hope, we’ll be okay. Once you become active helping others, you feel alive. You don’t feel, “It’s my fault.” You become a different person. And others are changed, too.”

The anger started in Bolivia where the people felt stripped out of their “material inheritance and natural resources”, and will definitely soon inflame the world. It’s official now Europe is preparing to a massive attack on individual tap water consumption. Great Britain launched the offensive in proposing to tax the tap water upon the volume consumed. Demonstrations already unwelcomed the uncongruous project.

As the result of the discrepancy between the high consumption and the depletion of the resource, the commodious response of the government is unsurprisingly the increase of the price of the commodity. When will it reach the American continent?

The overexploitation of water sources from the corporatocracy (Dasani in 50 Indian villages), the greenhouse gas, the climatic changes, consequences of the human footprint, are the significant symtoms of a coming shortage. When global warming peers up with human recklessness, the eradication of the vital commodity is not too far. Nationalized, privatized (soon?), speculated the water issue is so dramatic that scientists found the way to turn our urine into water! That’s where we are! Cogitating for the humanity not to end that soon! What a pityful acknowledgement of our impotence!

Since the USA is the biggest consumer what is the future of the commodity? When Europe surrended to its energetic dependency in the 1973 oil shock, they reformed radically and consequently their consumptions. Water in France, because of its price is regarded as a rarity. Not here, is its price a determining factor as well for their waste behavior? What I know for certain is that from now on, responsibility will have its price!

When governments, to the image of England put the blame on domestic consumption in order to inflate their profits to persuade the public to responsible behaviours (effective weapon in France), they found an easy target to the visible part of an iceberg. If you analyze who among all the actors of an economy leaves the biggest footprint, domestic consumption represents the smallest portion of the water consumption. To understand the concept, to define water footprint is inevitable.

The water footprint for the novice is the extent of water use in relation to consumption of people and logically for any given country, the volume of water needed for the production of the goods and services. The data is relevant since the accused, the domestic consumption appears like David facing Goliath that would be in the circumstance, the agricultural sector.

According to Hoekstra and Chapagain’s study, a correlation has to be established between the water footprint and the consumption of food and agricultural products. America, being the biggest producer of agricultural goods logically its water footprint should be the highest worldwide : it actually reached 2480 cubic meters per capita and per year. As explained, because of its consumption pattern, America with its 120 kilos of meat per year and per capita, three times the world average, as the biggest consumer, therefore the biggest producer becomes the biggest water footprinter. Not yet, but definitely among the first since other factors more prevalent come into the equation. Given that 16000 liters are necessary to produce one kilo (2 pounds) of beef, 1000 liters for a liter of milk, we are not surprised by the figures reported by the World Bank concerning the 120.9 billion cubic meters of water consumed by the agriculture, on its own.

In the country of the hamburger and the cotton t-shirt, they ulitize respectively 2400 liters and 2000 l, simply do the math to understand the magnitude of the damages on the water supply.

To give you figures that speak on the agricultural cost over the global water footprint on a worldwide scale, rice consumes 21% of the total volume of water used for crop production, wheat 12%… Agriculture acts like a sponge when it comes to consumption, 73% of the water pie! The domestic share is only 5%! To the examination of those figures should not governments shift their targets and aim at the real problem?

The agricultural sector as the black sheep, should be reformed. New solutions appeared on the market to replace technics that consume too much water. Rainforest and supplementary irrigation technics are the new methods for manageable and sustainable agricultural policies. For obtuse minds pricing should be the last resort to raise awareness.

Unlike the precipitated measures taken against the oil depletion (biofuel, the source of the inflation on the corn, of the reduction on the share of the commodity dedicated to human consumption, of the upheavals and riots in agriculture-based economies), let’s develop rational and adequate solutions proper to any given economy.

from Patrick Davis Partners, the six priorities for the post-agency market:

1. Find your voice.
2. Engage with the semantic marketplace.
3. Return to humanist marketing.
4. Live the renaissance.
5. Champion social agenda marketing.
6. Build brand integrity.

And if I were to add a seventh priority, it would be to simply cultivate each of the previous six.  Finding, engaging, returning, living, championing, and building are wonderful starting points, ideas to help shift a brand in the right direction, but without cultivation, care, attention, and sustainability ideas can and will die.  So, hold true to the future of a more honest, more conscious, more open environment for us all.  Cultivate that ideal.  We can make it prosper.

Each person to cross our path has the potential to teach. They offer a glimpse of a different life through their personal looking glass, one shaped by memory. With minds of limitless possibility, we absorb a wealth of insurmountable information, and still we cannot be everywhere, do everything, and know everyone. To truly understand the world we find ourselves in, we have to allow ourselves to see it through the eyes of others. We in turn, must share where we have been, what we have seen, and what we wish to become.

It is a beautiful November morning in West Hollywood. I should and could be at work, or in class, being productive. Instead, I am outside, bathed in a windy sunshine and I feel free for a little while, like I belong only to myself. For a few hours, I will practice kindness to the self and bask in its levity.

I walk a few blocks up the street an into an almost empty nail salon. It is eleven o’clock in the morning and no one else is there, expect Kim, the owner. Kim smiles up at me from behind tiny, rimmed glasses as I come in, and asks if I have time because she is alone today. Yes, I have time.

There are many reasons why I come back here. The first feeling I get when I walk into a space stays with me. My sister and I first discovered this salon a few months ago. It chants silently of warmth, like being invited into someone’s family space. We gone back, it became our place, we brought our brother with us, friends and now, I return alone. The walls are painted a rich orange, soft music plays, sunlight and a breeze rushes in from both the front and the back door. Often, Kim’s niece is there, along with her beautiful 4-year-old granddaughter. Her granddaughter eyes me curiously at first, like a new pet, not quite sure what to make of me, but soon she’s reading me from her notebook and telling me about her favorite colors, and piano lessons. I should try to remember to be this open, always.

It was my sister who taught me the beauty of this simple ritual. It does not come from a place of vanity, but from a need to relax and show stillness, kindness and care to the self. If I take the time to think why I continue to come back, I know it is because of the richness of the interaction. I could do my own nails, and I could go somewhere else, but I choose to come back here.

I’ve walked into other nails salons in the company of friends, and something in my chest constraints and sought to flee. Maybe it was the looks of disinterest painted on the faces of the women who reach newly lacquered claws into handbags that cost more than the women massaging their feet will make in the coming months. Maybe it was the tired looks of the workers who spoke among themselves in a language I could not understand. Guilt washed over me because even when I tried to break the language barrier, they were only able to smile back at me in a muted silence. I look down at my perfectly polished nails reflecting not wealth but a modest indulgence, and hide shame behind my eyes as I glance at the woman’s hands that just cradled mine in her own rough and cracked ones.

Kim and talk about our days, or past, we never loose eye contact. She is kind in her every gesture and strong in her feminine stance. We talked about our signs, and our Chinese horoscopes. She reminds me that Pisces rule the feet and I should take good care of them. Some days, 16 hours pass before I can enjoy the comfort of bare feet on hardwood floors. Kim pats my feet as if I were a little girl after they’ve been scrubbed and the nails painted to look like ripe cherries.

We talk about the economy and the dwindling number of new clients coming in, the regulars who maintain a vigilant loyalty. Kim moved to the US from Vietnam 20 years ago, and she has not gone back since, but others of her family have. She shares a common, repeat nightmare with many political refugees, like my mom. In their terror lulled dreams, they return to their country of birth, and are not allowed to leave. My mom has not gone home in 20 years. I asked her what she misses the most, she smiles, a sad reminiscent look takes over, and she tells me she misses everything, even a particular piece of broken tile on the street.

Kim’s childhood friend owned the salon before her, and Kim took over it 17 years ago. In Vietnam before the bombing leveled her home, she ran her own store. After the communist takeover, her husband was kept in prison for 7 years until coming to the US. Each morning, Kim’s husband drops her off at 8:30 in the morning, and 12 hours later they go home together. The salon isn’t always packed, and it is made to feel like a second home. Kim, her niece, and her friend, the only other employees, brings books to read, they watch TV, they drink tea sent from Vietnam, and share in the lives and the stories of the men and women who walk through their front doors.

We sit across from each other, the sky changes with the clouds, as we watch the neighborhood pass by. Much has changed Kim tells me. In 20 years many of the privately owned shops have closed, locals have relocated because the rents have keep up a steady incline, and real estate developers wage a constant war with the City of West Hollywood in hopes of buying out entire blocks they aim to turn into condominiums.

I spent and hour and a half with Kim today. I would gladly pay to just sit here and watch the stories flutter into existence behind Kim’s brown eyes rimmed with a blue halo. Next week, I will return not because I have to get my nails done, but because I have such a need to understand and feel the world around me, and there are so many things I have not yet done, and places I have only visited in someone else memory. Kim tells me her granddaughter asked about me again. It makes me smile to know she thinks of the woman so earnest in telling her to keep writing. I have the feeling she will. We lend pieces of our lives to those who are open to receive them, in them we will live forever.

The Chinese hegemony already spread its wings. Among the collection of items that “cohabits” in our houses, just quantify the ones that have the denomination “made in China” to understand the extent of the economic invasion. From the trifle to the technological device the conquest is complete. Which product doesn’t have the sinological seal? Based upon fallacious or veridical allegations concerning the factor quality of their products, no one will disown nonetheless their supremacy.

When Europe then the U.S. experienced unexpectedly their industrialization and later as a result their economic development, the key words were production that became mass production and productivity. Following the Occidentals’ models, China accelerated frantically its rhythm of industrialization, its production and therefore its productivity. Like its sisters, China has big bulky eyes envisioning big projects for the grandeur of the country, coveting Tibetan natural richness and worldwide natural resources as its predecessors not so long ago, hunting on the African continent.

No more Maoist little red book imposing agrarian reforms privileging 90% of the territory to agriculture. Now Chinese dream of mass consumption, brands, liberalism and soon freedom!

With the industrialization comes mass production (for local or/and international markets!), with mass production mass pollution, with mass pollution to evolve now mass recycling… Not even mass implemented in the Occident yet! And the cherry on the cake, the mass COST of our outrageous irresponsibility!

With the industrialization comes fierce urbanization, with urbanization mass expropriation, mass migration, with mass migration mass occidentalized consumption, with mass occidentalized consumption mass energy production, with mass energy production (construction of gigantic dams destroying the ecosystem, nuclear plants) mass pollution… It’s a vicious circle!

With the industrialization comes the energy dependency that ends up, refer to the USA, England…, to wage wars.

This could perfectly be a plausible scenario however the time given to our planet and to China shortens daily and opposes each others. The global warming and the depletion of the natural resources may shift China’s ambitions. Is it the reason why China who just become the biggest emitter of carbon dioxide is asking for the richest countries in the world to abandon their unsustainable lifestyle to fight the climate change? In this call, does China acknowledge its pertaining to the decried countries’ circle  “the polluters and the richest” ? If yes, will China, as it proposed, be paying taxes as the detainer of the record of pollution?

Even before November 4th, however, we here in the States were beginning to feel some relief as we saw a much-welcomed decrease in the national average gas price, eventually dropping to today’s $2.22.  Want some perspective?  Just a month ago, the national average was $3.25 for regular unleaded.  And four months ago?  Not only was the national average at its highest for the year, at $4.11, but it was the highest  average national price for regular unleaded gasoline ever!  So, how’s this near-$2 price-drop being received?  Apparently, it’s making us stupid.  Like, totally frackin’ stoopid, man.  Fo’ realz.

“Whoa, there.  You callin’ me stupid?!” you may be hot-headedly exclaiming.  Well, no.  I am not callin’ you stupid because I don’t know you, and that would be extremely presumptuous and downright rude.  Who I am callin’ stupid, though, are those individuals who have taken the recent decline in gas prices to mean that it’s okay to start buying SUVs again.  Yeah, you.  Stupid.

GM has seen a recent rebound in the sale of its, until recently, least-sold full-sized SUV models. GM’s Arlington, Texas factory, now the only manufacturer of these models, has placed all of its 2,500 employees on overtime to be extended until the end of the year as they pump out these gas-guzzlers.  The sport utility behemoths are, apparently, continuing to provide a good source of revenue for the company — even spawning a new $300 million factory near St. Petersburg, Russia.  GM is gambling heavily on the full-sized SUV line’s popularity overseas.  Great.

So, let’s get back to why this is totally frackin’ stoopid.  The Cadillac Escalade, one of GM’s most popular full-sized SUVs saw a sharp decline in sales in direct correllation to the increase in gas prices.  Why?  Well, take a brand new 2009 Cadillac Escalade for example.  It garners right-around 12 miles to the gallon, using premium unleaded gasoline, of course, and will run its owner an annual fuel bill of about $3 thousand dollars.  Oh, and its carbon footprint is approximately 12.2 tons.  In comparison, the base model Honda Civic’s carbon footprint is half that of the Escalade at approximately 6 tons.  A Prius, the best selling hybrid in the land?  Only 4 tons annually.  It appears that instead of increased environmental awareness leading to the decline of the SUV on our roadways, it was just a hiatus until owning one went from completely ridiculous to mildly ridiculous.

It’s a shame that memories are so damn short for such an encompassing issue.  And even if you forget the environmental impacts these disgusting machines have (please don’t), gas prices fluctuate just about as much as the seasons.  It’s as if these new purchasers can’t quite grasp that permanent change, no matter how many times one may say it out loud, does not happen overnight.  Sigh. I suppose these are the same people who are still fooled when I cover my face with my hands and tell them I disappeared.  Or maybe they just don’t care?  That, for me, is even more sad.  Addicts off the wagon.

I sometimes fall into a trance while washing dishes, brushing my teeth, taking a shower, and not to mention the relaxation of a bath. Something about the sound of the water rushing away from me, cleansing me, and my surroundings. If the sink is full, it may take me about half an hour to get through it, all this time the water runs. It runs with pieces of breakfast and dinner, the remains of yesterday follow their way down the drain, scraped away from me. I listen to the sound of an artificial waterfall as I brush my teeth. Face caught in contemplation as the brush makes its dutiful circular rounds, the flow of water soothes me. What better way to unwind and relax at the end of the day than under the massaging and pore opening power of a long, hot shower? Relaxation exercises tell us to imagine all our negativity and fear being washed away with our bath water. I’ve tried this and something about the mental image of what you don’t want held close to you being carried away by the sound and the feel of the water, calmly begins to heal the mind and body instantly.

It was during a dishwashing night that I began to see the error of my ways. Entranced by the sound of the water, I began to imagine tracing its descent through the pipes, and my mind flashed shameful and angry with images of cracked and barren lands, and children drinking murky water.

We are the blue plant and the proverbial water children. Seventy-two percent of the earth is covered in water, of that water, 97 percent is salty and only 3 percent is freshwater. Seventy percent of the freshwater is locked in rapidly melting icecaps. The six major countries home to 50 percent of the world’s freshwater resources are Brazil, Russia, Canada, Indonesia, China and Columbia.

One-third of the world’s population already lives in what are considered “water-stressed” countries. A “water-stressed” country is a country where there is not enough water for all uses, whether domestic, agricultural or industrial. Studies conducted by the United Nations indicate that by the year 2025 more than 2.8 billion people will live in 48 countries facing “water stress”. Of these 48 countries, 40 are either in the Near East and North Africa or in sub-Sahara Africa. It is projected that by the year 2050 the number of “water stressed” countries will rise to 54, and that these countries will be home to 40 percent of the projected world population of 9.4 billion people.

You and I are 55-75 percent water. Break down our vital organs and we see a link of synchronicity. Our brains are 70 percent water, lungs 90 percent water, blood 83 percent water, muscle 70 percent water, and our bones are 50 percent water. Take the water away and we wither like the scorched lands, no longer able to produce nor sustain life.

We let water seep and slip through our fingers everyday. Mounting global and economic changes such as accelerated population growth, increase affluence combined with rapid urbanization, the expansion of businesses, the depletion of aquifers, and water pollution pull us closer to the loss of our bodily and our earthly essence.

Access to water with a simple flick of the wrist, enables us to take for granted what is a life preserving luxury, one many are already not afforded. Lets pair our need with what we use. On average a person needs about 13 gallons of water per day. The estimated US household uses 245 gallons per day. What could possibly require so much water?

If I decide I want that relaxing bath I will use about 36 gallons of water. If instead, I take a five-minute shower I will use about 25-35 gallons. Should I decide to brush my teeth and leave the water running I will use another 2 gallons. If you let the water run as you shave another 20 gallons flows away. Flushing the toilet takes another 5-7 gallons. In my quiet and contemplating dishwashing reverie I use about 20-30 gallons of water. One large load of laundry will also use another 40 gallons. This is just the use of one person, imagine your block, your city, your state, your continent. How long can it last?

The first part in waking from a nightmare is realizing that you are no longer in it. The first part of my water loss realization made me aware of what I was doing, and that I did not need to do it. No need to feel guilty about enjoying the peacefulness and serenity brought about by water. If all the water facts written about have yet to settle, let one idea idle to the surface. We live on a planet comprised mostly of water. We ourselves are about ¾ water. Would it seem unnatural then, that we should seek it out and that it be the center of our life source? The sustainability of life is dependent on water. Knowing this let’s begin a more educated look at how we can preserve it.

Change can only be summoned through understanding and awareness. I am conscious of the fact that I let the water run in the shower, way before I ever set food in the tub. I am aware that I allow the water to run continuously as I brush my teeth. I watch the water in the kitchen run, as I wipe off the counters. As I make these mistakes, I begin to recognize them.

Everything does not have to happen at once, change is gradual. There are simple ways in which each one of us can help everyday. For some people the change may be radical, but the majority will find it easier to integrate slowly. An easy way to reduce the amount of water consumed is to actually turn the water off while not using it (brushing teeth, shaving). Changing the showerheads and faucets to low-flow ones will decrease the water used by about 40%. When washing dishes using one side to actually let dishes soak, and rinse on the other side, not letting the water run continuously. Using efficiency models for washing machines and dishwashers will reduce the amount of water used to about half. Filling the machines to capacity every time will also cut down on the amount of water used. Invest in a low-flow model for your toilet .A quick Google search will retrieve countless websites designed to educate about the many ways in which we can conserve water.

We are the lucky ones because we have access to what many may think is a limitless supply of water. It is far from limitless, but it runs clean and clear. Americans uses more water than any other nation in the world. Currently there are 1.1 billion people without access to safe drinking water. We don’t risk severe illnesses when we turn on our tap water. We choose to buy bottled water because we can. Surface water has become rampantly polluted by industrial waste, bacteria, domestic sewage, pesticides, mercury, and garbage. Ground water has been so highly abused there is no way for it to replace itself soon enough. Wells are being dug deep and fast, and still the need and consumption far outmatches what the earth is able to regenerate. Countries whose resources are abundant have begun to invest in desalination, an expensive process by which the salt is removed from saltwater,

Analysts predict that the future is swaying in such a way that water may become more coveted than oil. Water in its essence, is life. It nourishes, enriches, soothes, cleans, and is the foundation of all life forms and civilizations. To watch it drip away without a care in torrents of shower, and dishwater is like tearing holes into the fiber of our being. Seek its beauty and its calm in the oceans and rivers not in your leaky faucet. Perhaps Jacques Cousteau left us with the best inclination about how vital our water is by stating: “We forget that the water cycle and life cycle are one”.

But that’s what we do. We give, get, trade, throw away, and get more. We celebrate the stuff. It is us, and we are our stuff. We don’t buy things just because we need them. We buy things to show ourselves we deserve them. We buy things to stretch our power. We buy things so we can get home and sit down and look around us at our possessions and feel big. We buy because we have opinions, and we want to express those opinions through our purchasing choices. Discerning marketing has targeted this need to make our opinion known, flex our power. And they give us the consumer experience to fulfill that. A forum where you can thrash about, have a temper tantrum, cry, indulge, make your needs known. Because whatever it is, you are guaranteed a product to fill that need, be it an actual need or whim.

But what you are really buying isn’t the product. You are buying the experience. The item or service holds significance because of the feelings it makes us have about ourself. It’s not about the stuff, it’s about us. We are buying indulgence, prosperity, the feeling of wealth and security. We’re so attached and addicted to our things because of the experience created around them, not so much the item itself. But what happens when we move on to the next feeling, the next new thing, faster, better, bigger, our next plastic love? What happens to our old self-indulgences?

Artist and Photographer Chris Jordan‘s images struck me as graphic documentation of our one-sided, destructive relationship with things. Look at these images and tell me what you feel. I for one felt a strange, almost reverent awe. It was like I had created that sea myself, that sea of bottles. Like a kid staring at all the shattered pieces of a lamp they just broke. All those pieces. All those parts. Like a string of bad decisions from your past lined up in front of you. In a sense, viewing our waste should be a spiritual experience, because it really is a part of us. It is us. 

I think Chris Jordan might be saying it best here, when he says,

The pervasiveness of our consumerism holds a seductive kind of mob mentality. Collectively we are committing a vast and unsustainable act of taking, but we each are anonymous and no one is in charge or accountable for the consequences. I fear that in this process we are doing irreparable harm to our planet and to our individual spirits.

As an American consumer myself, I am in no position to finger wag; but I do know that when we reflect on a difficult question in the absence of an answer, our attention can turn inward, and in that space may exist the possibility of some evolution of thought or action.
  

Read more about Chris Jordan on stalkmarket here.