There is a new documentary film called Trashed which I hope comes to a theatre near me, because it sounds interesting. Jeremy Irons narrates and Vangelis (Chariots of Fire!) wrote the score. Do we get to see a group of garbage collectors running down a street in slow motion to the strains of synth music? The film is about our extraordinary ability to create junk and what the solutions might be:
The beauty of our planet from space forms a violent contrast to the scenes of human detritus across the globe. Vast landscapes in China are covered in tons of rubbish. The wide waters of the Ciliwung River in Indonesia are now barely visible under a never-ending tide of plastic. Children swim among leaking bags; mothers wash in the sewage-filled supply. Each year, we now throw away fifty-eight billion disposable cups, billions of plastic bags, 200 billion litres of water bottles, billions of tons of household waste, toxic waste and e-waste. http://www.trashedfilm.com/
Uck. I do think the junk we produce is a spiritual issue. Even though somebody hauls mine away to the landfill (remember in the good ol' days when we called it The Dump) I can look at the end of the driveway and be reminded that I am a conspicuous consumer. The United Church did lead the way by encouraging its members to forego bottled water, long before this was a fashionable cause. We were mocked, but we were right. Maybe we need to develop a Theology of Trash, asking what all that flotsam and jetsam says about the state of our souls.
Would this be a good idea, or am I just trash-talking? Are you any better (worse?) about producing garbage that five years ago? Do you go by that ancient adage Reduce, Re-use, Recycle?
We have definately become more conscious of the garbage we produce in our household. We usually have it down to one bag, (which still is too much) but sometimes we can't seem to make it. We do sometimes pay more for an item, if we find that one has more ecologically friendly packaging. I find myself mystified by the fact that companies have not changed their packaging.
ReplyDeleteIn 1994, as I graduated high school, the little blurb about myself in the yearbook included a reminder of "RRR". Here I am many years later and still trying my best to achieve my youthful goals. When I see all the packaging, all the wastefulness in our society, I just really don't understand it. I know I am part of the problem, but I really try to make a conscious effort to do my best. Some people are so oblivious, ignorant, or perhaps lazy, and don't recycle, continually throw batteries away, buy prepackaged everything. I don't understand. We foster a child in Malawi through World Vision, and I think of her constantly. What would her family think of our way of life? Our wastefulness, our seeming disregard for so much?
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