American Consumption - American Self Portrait

photo: Chris Jordan

This may be off the topic of building a house but this blog is a fluid thing that will hopefully continually evolve. Next week we hope to bring you some posts relating to the construction of this house. We are awaiting a flood of hard numbers on what we are going to spend on and how we are going to build it.

In the meantime checkout the stunning and sobering photographs by photographer Chris Jordan. His series called, Running The Numbers : An American Self Portrait where he examines a disturbing aspect of contemporary American culture, through the austerity of statistics. The series evaluates the enormity of personal and national consumption. Each image portrays a specific quantity of a commonly consumed or used item in the United States: two million plastic beverage bottles, the number used in the US every five minutes. Images representing these quantities have different effect than the raw numbers alone, such as we find daily in articles and books.  Statistics feel abstract an anesthetizing, making it difficult to connect with and make meaning of 3.6 million SUV sales in one year, for example, : Fifteen million sheets of office paper equaling five minutes of paper use; 106,000 aluminum cans representing thirty seconds of can consumption, or 426,000 cell phones retired every day. This project visually examines these vast and bizarre Societal measures in large intricately detailed prints assembled from thousands of smaller photographs. These photographs have to be seen in person to really appreciate them, their scale is amazing. If you're in NYC or LA check them out at his galleries.

more after the jump...

If you want to avoid adding to the 60 million daily US average of plastic bottle consumption, consider a few options:

•Purchase an unlined aluminum or stainless steel container for carrying water. Sigg has some really cool ones as or you can find some at Greenfeet.

•Use tap water. If you don’t like the taste, use a filter. Store water in a glass bottle in your refrigerator for instant refreshment.

• Learn more about the issue, then voice your concerns to local legislators, who make policies. Visit the following Web sites: the Container Recycling Institute , Our Stolen Future and the Ecology Center .

• Support container ordinances that give money back for returning containers. "Bottle Bills" are the most environmentally friendly because they’re the most effective in collecting waste bottles and cans.

• Donate the money you would spend on water bottled in plastic to charities striving to bring safe tap water and sanitation to our billions of world neighbors who lack access.

 

Comments

[David]

I agree these are stunning photos, showing a harsh reality!! Wow.

David
GetWithGreen.com