Bottle Deposit

When I was a child my family would often go to spend a few days by the water in Malibu. My dad would hitch up the 16 foot camping trailer to our Ford station wagon. (yes, the same one that I once released the parking brake on and consequently rolled across the street up onto the neighbors lawn. All my dad said was, "don't do that again." I was seven. I guess the lesson stayed with me because I've not done it since). Anyway, we go off into the sunset on a Friday evening and wake up on the beach for the weekend or sometimes for a couple of weeks when it was vacation time. I would get up really early with the sun and wanted to be off doing stuff when every one else wanted to sleep, so my dad suggested that I go along the shore and retrieve the bottles scattered from the day before by the idiots of that time and cash them in. I took to this idea with a vengeance and when I made ten bucks the very first day I was hooked. My summer mornings were filled with the clank of all sorts of bottles each of which had a deposit on them between a nickel and twenty cents. I was happy because I was making money. At the same time I was performing a service by keeping the beach clear of bottles. It was a good deal all around with perhaps the exception of one person - the old wino who lost out to me each day because I was up a hell of a lot earlier than him. I'm sure that for the times I spent on the beaches of Malibu his times of sobriety were of equal measure. It looks like New Jersey is about to take a step toward a cleaner world. Good times...

City LiTTERfe

This is the experimental film I just completed and posted on youtube.

A Ridiculous Proposal - Right?

I need to begin with this: I found this image on a government site for the state of Missouri and frankly I'd like to see these sorts of signs around NYC. More than that I'd like to see actual enforcement. I want to see those people who consciously or unconsciously drop papers, plastics, or whatever happens to be in their hands at any given moment - end up with tickets in their hands. Even if they don't end up paying a fine I think that spending a day or so trying to cut through the red tape might make them think twice the next time they have something to throw away.

But on with the proposal: It's very simple really. I would like to see any company that provides logo bearing materials to along with it's products (IE: shoe boxes, fast food wrappers, cups, cigarettes, condoms, gums, candies, bottled waters, soft drink containers, hard drink bottles, computer packaging and on and on...) being held responsible to offer cash back for the return of such items or to contribute to centralized collections centers which would then pay cash for such pieces of detritus. These companies wouldn't need to spend a lot (pennies per item), and their contribution to our environment would be great. Then they could blah, blah, blah all over the place about how they're working to clean up the planet. As things are now, the way I see it is that each and every MacDonald's bag or cup or wrapper that's left to rot before our eyes is an illegal advertising placement. If each one of those items were replaced by a sign on a stick advertising those products - MacDonald's would be fined and the signs would be removed. But they're not signs - they're just trash left over from someone' gross-out meal. Nevertheless MickyDs has it's name plastered everywhere we look and they've washed their hands of the whole thing. Their defense (as they might present it): "hey we just sold the stuff. The customer owns it now. What they do with it is up to them and we truly believe they should place such things in the proper containers."

Give me a break. Yes, please, I would like a break today - a break from advertising tyranny and corporate irresponsibility, a break from litter that often works its way into our overburdened oceans. A break from an littered environment

We all deserve a break today. Don't you agree, Ronald Mac Donald - icon to children everywhere?

Everything's Connected

I came across this little item and cannot help but see the relationship between what we do each and every day and the planet's dilemma. From my way of thinking (and I know that everyone does not share this view) all of life emanates from each individual person and coalesces into what we know and agree upon as reality. Therefore if we want things to change globally it is up to each of us to transform ourselves personally.

Each instance of litter is an example, a reminder if you will, of something that needs to be paid attention to. Picking it up and encouraging that practice on the level of community is needed action. Litter then, is the signifier of larger issues that can be addressed by individual action.

Breathe deeply.

Trash Stash Evolution

As small as this blurb is it actually contains some very good news for the environment and for the issue of what to do with those recycling items. The article points to the idea that we will soon be moving to using a single container system for all disposables and it will all get sorted on the other end. No more special containers no more sorting for the consumer! Yes.

Further, even though the MTA has made no announcement of any kind to let people know they are already using this system on all platforms and throughout the system. If you look carefully at the bottom of the photo of the sticker that has been afixed to all of the containers you will see a line that states, "Subway litter is recycled after collection." Amazing! One would think with all the negative press they get for all of the truly stupid decisions they make having to do with the use of funds, they they would welcome something to crow about. Ah well. Anyway, I'm personally happy to know that I no longer need to haul that newspaper, or recyclable bottle home in order to assure that it will be recycled properly - I can just place it any one of the hundreds of receptacles in the subway system and know that it will be taken care of. Yippie!

It All Has To Go Somewhere

Note: The image is clickable for a larger view of the original.

All I can say is that thank god this stuff didn't end up as a part of the plastic vortex.

I noticed that the blurb does not provide a webdress for "Clean Ocean Action" which is referenced as the people responsible for post the included information so here is is: http://www.cleanoceanaction.org/. A great group putting their actions where their hearts are. Keep it up people, and thanks. - You rock!

One of the most important things to notice is the number of cigarette filters: 38,019. Even the most environmentally responsible smokers continue to be unaware of the fact that filters are made of plastic and consequently are not biodegradable. This is information that they need to be aware of. It's a huge problem.

Keeping it clean,

Jon

Peace - pass it on.

Oceanic Plastic Soup

This little blurb was found on page 7 of the throwaway Metro paper. It seems to me that this is a much larger issue than John McCain paying for pizza and tipping big on the front page.

Further information on this atrocity can be found at this location as was noted on our first post on the 7th. The obvious implication is that we can clean up after ourselves or we can wade through our crap on a daily basis.

I once heard a comedian (who it was I cannot remember at the moment) talk about how he was not able to think about what was inside his own body; the idea of considering blood and organs and the cycling of food to waste was simply too much for him to bear. His solution was to simply imagine that his insides were composed of nothing but white light. As noted in the article that I've posted here it used to be that the garbage that formerly ended up in this vortex would decompose (so its been going on for a long time that we've not been informed about), but now since there's so much plastic - 403 billion pounds - it just swirls around and around endlessly. Endlessly! This is not white light. This is where litter goes when we pretend that it's not there.

More

I am currently working on an experimental video project and have already posted this information on another blog, but thought it would be appropriate to post it here as well:

We live together in large communities that in some ways have a life of their own. The ways in which we collectively interact with our fellow citizens reflects on who we are as individuals. I personally believe that there are members of the community who look but do not see, use but do not contribute, and drop their wastes as though the world were their limitless trashcan. I want to make the point that those persons in political office have a responsibility to work toward an environment that is nurturing to its citizens. Currently the focus of those in power appears to be punishment (and money raising for the city) for "crimes" such as parking too long at a meter, having a broken tail light, and skateboarding or bicycling on the sidewalk, while turning a blind eye to the businessman who sets down his Starbuck's cup on a park bench and simply walks away, or a school-kid who eats an ice cream and drops the wrapper where she stands.

I'm not intimating in any way that we will end up like this:

...but the fact is that when the inhabitants of a city stop seeing what is all around them that does not mean that the effect of what has been done and is the constant process of being done isn't affecting them. The video above clearly shows that the people in this city, Kathmandu are all too aware of what is going on. I see no particular reason why it needs to come to such an exaggerated state to gain awareness. This film is one of many that I will be appropriating for my project and I expect that as I move along I will be learning many things, some of which I would rather not know, but this is a personal issue for me something that I see as one of the few drawbacks to this city. Somehow other big cities manage to keep themselves clean. An animal that does not clean itself has given up. What the hell does that say about NY?

I grew up in Los Angeles where every child is indoctrinated into the idea that littering is a bad thing. It's simple and effective. If one is made aware of the issue that means that in this particular area of life - a person is made conscious. And consciousness is contagious. I simply cannot help myself - I am bringing my LA consciousness to New York. I do not want to see streets awash in trash. I do not want to anyone trashing our city.

TwLitter Begins

Image from http://www.waterencyclopedia.com/Po-Re/Pollution-of-the-Ocean-by-Plastic-and-Trash.html

This is the beginning of a social experiment in the raising of consciousness in one area of life - our immediate surroundings on the streets of our communities. Litter, Trash, Debris.

Some of you reading this will be inspired to participate, some will not. Either way the simple effect of placing the information where it can be seen and followed is to create a focus point.

In meditation to focus one's attention on the area of the "third eye" is to cause a reaction in that location. The reaction is: that the more one focuses upon the location the more it becomes sensitive to the attention. . .

Trash, litter, debris, waste..., whatever you call we all have to deal with it. How does the trash in your neck of the woods affect your daily life? Do you see trash on the side of the road, street or yard and feel compelled to pick it up, regardless if its yours or not, or do you simply leave it where it lies in hopes that it won't be there when you return? Does the presence of loose debris in your fair city bring down the neighborhood you grew up in, go to work in or come home to? What are your thoughts on what can or should be done to get a handle on overwhelming piles of trash?

A couple of sites worth looking at:

http://www.litterproject.com/ http://www.cleanthebay.org/

While the world is rightly focused on the problem of Global Warming there continues to be issues such as this one that although smaller, has a more immediate impact and is at some level directly connected to the larger problem. I recently heard on the radio about a huge (the size of Texas) dense soup of refuse being identified in the Atlantic composed of tons and tons of plastics mixed into other unidentified waste products. Here is a link to that information. We consider this to be a truly important media-ignored revelation: http://www.greenpeace.org/international/campaigns/oceans/pollution/trash-vortex

Please use the Follow Me link function on the upper right of this blog to work with us and please consider the following questions as you post your thoughts:

• What litter did you see today?
• What did you do about it?
• How did your action or lack of action make you feel?
• Is litter really a problem?
• Would you like to see more of it?
• What can be done in the future if we do see littering as a problem?
• What good deed did you see today?
• What was beautiful today?

Thanks to Brent Donaway for his contributions to this blog.