When Art Reflects Our Non-Sustainable Life

Dennis Salazar

I am in full agreement with those who say art does not imitate life, it reflects it. This could not be more true that in the work of photographer/artist Chris Jordan of Seattle. Chris' unique style is an indictment on our mass consuming society, and his work as well as his camera often focus on the amount of waste we generate and then dump into our environment.

Photo by CHRIS JORDAN depicting 2 million plastic bottles

The image shown above is from his series titled "Running the Numbers—An American Self-Portrait," and is actually a photograph of two million disposable plastic bottles, the amount used every five minutes in the United States. You can see the rest of his thought provoking series online at his web site.

Some of the other disturbing images Chris includes in his work are depictions of—

• 38,000 shipping containers, the number of containers processed through American ports every twelve hours.
• 426,000 cell phones, equal to the number of cell phones retired in the U.S. every day.
• 8 million toothpicks, equal to the number of trees harvested in the U.S. every month to make the paper for mail order catalogs.
• 170,000 disposable Energizer batteries, equal to fifteen minutes of Energizer battery production.
• 30,000 reams of office paper, or 15 million sheets, equal to the amount of office paper used in the U.S. every five minutes.

And of course, any photographic or written commentary on our wasteful lifestyle would be incomplete if it did not include packaging. Chris' photographs include images depicting—

• 60,000 plastic bags, the number used in the U.S. every five seconds.
• 106,000 aluminum cans, the number used in the U.S. every thirty seconds.
• 1.14 million brown paper supermarket bags, the number used in the U.S. every hour.
• Two million plastic beverage bottles, the number used in the U.S. every five minutes.

We can question the statistics and numbers but we cannot ignore the problem. Also, if we are completely honest with ourselves, we should not avoid accepting the blame because the problem is unarguably and undoubtedly us.

Every Decision Matters

As consumers we can blame others for creating the need and desire to buy this or that item. Certainly we cannot ignore the way marketing, product designers and the media affects our impulses and choices we make. I am sure there are few among us who even stop short of making that purchase because we decide "I know I can afford it but maybe the environment can't."

However, we also make much smaller decisions daily, and each has dramatic cumulative impact on the world we all are forced to share. We impact the world each time we choose convenience over inconvenience, fleeting fashion over long term durability or we decide to justify our individual actions because after all, "how much difference can this make?" Much like one of Chris' photographs, we justify throwing out one cell phone every year or two because we want the latest and greatest, and simple logic tells us that action and decision can only cause minimal damage to the environment. But as Chris reminds us, what if 425,999 other people are making that same decision today?

If it is relatively easy to ignore the negative impact of one simple decision we make in a day, then shouldn't we also realize the potential impact of one positive decision a day?

Disposable coffee cups by CHRIS JORDAN 410,000 are used every fifteen minutes in the US

The Debates No One Ever Wins

The sustainable packaging world is full of controversy and debate. We can argue the benefits of biodegradability versus recycling. We can participate in the endless conversations on the carbon footprint of paper manufactured thousands of miles away, compared to plastics made locally. We can debate the merits of bio-plastics, vegetable based inks versus water based inks, biodegradable packing peanuts versus inflatable void fill solutions but the thing we have to realize is that none of this really matters. Not unless we all start making better decisions daily and do everything we can to encourage others to do the same. Ideally, we can lead by example, but should acknowledge that there is a segment of the population that will require motivation beyond what exists today.

In regards to the environmental crises, I admit there are times when I start feeling like my company and I are a bit like one of those small, insignificant items in one of Chris Jordan's photographs. I need to see something like this talented artist is conveying to remind myself, I do matter. The products we buy and sell, the services we provide, and yes, even the articles we write, all have some small positive impact and when it is multiplied out, over and over, we all do make a tremendous difference.

National and Perhaps Even Global Crossroads

Whether we chose to listen intently or completely disregard the presidential campaign rhetoric, we should still acknowledge that we are all witnessing what is sure to be a historic national election. Quite frankly, I have heard enough about immigration, health care, the war in Iraq, the ailing economy and all the other popular issues. Those issues are all very important and I certainly do not mean to minimize them at all.

However, what I have not heard nearly enough about is about the environment, above and beyond global warming. What the candidates and most voters forget, is that if we lose the one and only planet we have, nothing else really matters. There will be no immigration, economy, health care or war to worry about. I think we all agree that poisoning our earth beyond the point of survival is not the ideal way to end those problems.

Not surprisingly, there is much talk these days about a white president or a black president, but I believe what we may need more than anything is a green president. I guess that is just another one of those many decisions we have to make. I pray and hope we make a good one.

Dennis Salazar is president of Salazar Packaging, Inc. His articles have appeared in numerous blogs and online publications.

Article Source: http://www.sustainableisgood.com/blog/2008/02/when-are-reflec.html