Recycling in photos

These are some fantastic, eye-opening images about our consumerism, throw-away culture. These images are by Chris Jordan, a Seattle-based photographer and activist.

The images and statistics are pretty alarming, and they definitely have made me think twice about what I consume, where I spend my money, and, most importantly, what I throw away and recycle.

(Click on any image for a much bigger, better view)

The three images above depict 106,000 aluminum cans, the number used in the US every thirty seconds. Zoiks!

We recycle every can, and by that I don't mean sending them to the City of Philadelphia, which has an abysmal recycling track record. We are saving and crushing them. At the end of the summer I hope to ca$h in, but I don't know how much we'll net. But, it's a win-win - we are recycling all of our aluminum, and hopefully makin' a little money out of it, too.

I admit to starting this out of selfish purposes - saving extra money for photo equipment - but we're avoiding sending lots of aluminum to the landfull (pun intended). The way I mow through cases of Dr. Pepper, coupled with my daily regimen of Red Bull, the aluminum is piling up. I do need to cut back on the caffeine, but it doesn't seem to be in the cards anytime soon. Maybe in the next lifetime.

These three images (above) depict the number of cell phones retired in the US every day - 426,000. One of the biggest threats to our environment is the disposal of electronic devices like cell phones, computers, PDAs and the like. These devices contain some very nasty chemicals and components.

Recently, I donated five of our old cell phones to Verizon's HopeLine Program. This program refurbishes and distributes old phones to community outreach groups, such as the Family Violence Prevention Fund and the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence.

To donate your old cell to this very worthy program, drop off your old phone to any Verizon Wireless store, or send it on to:

HopeLine Program
c/o Verizon Wireless
2555 Bishop Circle West
Dexter, MI 48130

For more information about HopeLine, call 1-800-426-2790 between the hours of:
9 a.m. and 9 p.m. EST, Monday — Saturday
10 a.m. to 6 p.m. EST on Sunday

These three images depict 125,000 one-hundred dollar bills ($12.5 million), the amount our government spends every hour on the War in Iraq.

I'll let those three pictures and that statistic all stand on their own without comment. Just a thought, though - I wonder how the people in New Orleans feel about that?

I found this statistic absolutely mind-boggling: Every five seconds, 60,000 plastic bags are used in the US. But, the good news is that many of them simply don't need to be used, and they all can be recycled.

Personally, I feel the first step is to not get a bag when you need it. I can't tell you how many times I've walked into a convenience store, buy one soda (and nothing else), and the clerk wants to put it in a bag. The best defense is a good offense - I often refuse the bag when I don't need it, even if a cashier has already put a few packages in it - I make the cashier take them out. I do appreciate good customer service, but I appreciate the environment a whole lot more.

The second step is to reuse these bags as often as possible, and we do. After multiple trips to the supermarket, they begin to pile up, so we take any excess bags to the supermarket; many stores have bins set up specifically for excess shopping bags. So, ones we aren't reusing get recycled. Check your local supermarket by the entrances/exits or up front by the register - chances are, yours has a similar bag drop. If it doesn't, ask them to get one, or frequent a store that does.

Really, the possibilities here are endless. Just imagine, out of the approximately 200 million adults in this country, if every person refused one bag PER YEAR - that would be 200 million less bags used, most of which go straight to the dump. Now imagine five bags per year, or 10. Now multiply that by 50 or 60 years over a lifetime.

Recycling really CAN make a big difference, and don't let anyone tell you otherwise.

This picture depicts 8 million toothpicks, equal to the number of trees harvested in the US every month to make the paper for mail order catalogs. Wow. The best thing to do here is to opt out of catalogs and try to get off mailing lists. I'm guilty of not doing this, so far. But, I was spurred to action a few days ago when I received a source book from one of my favorite camera retailers, B&H Photo in New York City. The catalog must be nearly two inches thick, and it's not going to get any use; when I want to order something, I go online and see what I want. B&H needs to stop sending me these, so they'll hear from me shortly.

These two pictures depict 24,000 logos from the GMC Yukon Denali, equal to six weeks of sales of that model SUV in 2004.

My measure of prevention here is simple - I will never drive or own an SUV. Ever. Or at least until hybrid or even full-on plug-in electric SUVs come out. Then, yes.

By the way, the 2007 Yukon XL Denali? It gets 13 MPG in the city, and 19 MPG on the highway. Pathetic.

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These images, and many, many more, are now on display at the Von Lintel Art Gallery in New York City. The exhibit, Running the Numbers, by Chris Jordan, runs through July 31.

I'm really going to try to get to NYC to see it. And yes, I will take mass transit.

Jordan puts it best, on his Website:

As an American consumer myself, I am in no position to finger wag; but I do know that when we reflect on a difficult question in the absence of an answer, our attention can turn inward, and in that space may exist the possibility of some evolution of thought or action. So my hope is that these photographs can serve as portals to a kind of cultural self-inquiry. It may not be the most comfortable terrain, but I have heard it said that in risking self-awareness, at least we know that we are awake.

Those are about the best damn words I've read about recycling, ever.