I almost forgot to post on one of the lamest days of the year: Black Friday.
If you don’t understand why Black Friday is lame, there’s probably a lot of other things we disagree on. Anyway, I’ll hand it over to Annie Leonard’s Story of Stuff today. I have a headache.
Rather than buying stuff today, try giving the gift of service or your time to someone instead…
I saw one of these in California not too long ago, then I heard about one in Delaware, and now they’re happening at the new architecture building at Temple University: water bottle refill stations. A pretty simple concept- get a drink of water, refill a bottle with water.
What I didn’t notice is that they have a readout on them that shows how much waste has been eliminated through refilling your bottle. Bottled water sucks, plain and simple.
Not sure how you can hate on this one. Tests have shown over and over that tap water trumps bottled water in both quality and taste. While I’m at it, I’ll remind you to check out The Story of Bottled Water if you haven’t seen it yet (some of the video comments might depress you, but isn’t that the case with everything on Youtube?).
So strange, I looked outside my window this morning and happened to catch someone throwing an empty water bottle out of their car as they drove by…couldn’t be more perfect for today’s post.
I forget, did I write about plastic bottles before? I can’t remember, but they upset me on a daily basis. It’s an unforgettable item that will continue to plague us, whether in the form of plastic islands larger than Texas in every ocean, in our favorite rivers and streams to swim in, or wedged into every crack and crevice of our environment.
Diedra Krieger is a friend of mine that has been building rather immense structures out of plastic bottles for years now. When I first saw one of them, I didn’t at all think about how nice it was, to be honest. I got really bummed out that there was this ugly item in such a large quantity in front of me…which in itself can be rather beautiful…and I think it’s safe to say that that is her point (But what would I know, I can never hope to “know” an artist’s complete multi-layered approach anyway).
Seeing a giant geodesic dome of these things can invoke some strong emotions, of which you can select whether to be bummed out or rather delighted by it. I can’t say that for most art that I look at (usually just bummed). Pictures just don’t do justice of one her creations, but here’s my favorite shot:
She’s making a monster one of these from June 10th – 12th for Figment 2011, a killer participatory/interactive exhibition on Governor’s Island NY.
While I’m at it, I’d like you to check out another favorite video of mine related to our friend the water bottle. Annie Leonard, as you may know from “The Story of Stuff”, has a series of “The Story Of” videos now. My favorite of hers is definitely (you guessed it): “The Story of Bottled Water”. I love it how she manages to invoke so many harsh emotions on the Youtube comment section, people that just don’t want to acknowledge the reality at all. Anyway, here’s the video:
Does plastic waste tug at your heart strings? Or does it feel that it hasn’t made its way into your daily life yet, so it’s not a priority to confront? All is well and good if you listen to the American Chemistry Council…right. Give them a call and ask some real questions, their responses are humorous to the point of depression: (202) 249-7000