Consumption

Every five minutes two million plastic beverage bottles are used in the United States. Five minutes; that’s all it takes for a nation to create this mass of waste.

426,000. That’s the number of cell phones retired in the US everyday. Now how many of these phones do you believe are disposed of properly, or even recycled?

These statistics are alarming to hear, but the reality is often hard to bear without visualizing the extent of these issues. Thanks to Chris Jordan of Chris Jordan’s Photographic Arts, we can do just that – visualize. In his collection, Running the Numbers, Jordan turns raw statistics like these into stunning pieces of artwork, each one a poignant social commentary regarding our penchant for consumption.

“I hope to raise some questions about the role of the individual in a society that is increasingly economic, incomprehensible, and overwhelming,” Jordan explains in his statement.

60,000 plastic bags are used every five seconds, and in a 60 x 72’’ photograph, you see them all. Each photographed image portrays a specific quantity, and is intricately assembled from thousands of smaller photos. So what seems like a multicolored splatter of paint at first glance turns into a dizzying array of plastics, thousands and thousands of them, years away from decomposition.

The photos are magnificent, and yet make a frightening statement. In Jordan’s Intolerable Beauty collection, there are no tricks of the eye to be seen. Pure waste and ruin tell a story of American consumption that makes you wonder how anyone could possibly use so much. Oil cans, paper, wood, e-waste, it all adds up to

“I find evidence of a slow-motion apocalypse in progress,” Jordan writes. “I am appalled by the scenes, and yet also drawn to them with awe and fascination. The immense scale of our consumption can appear desolate…even darkly beautiful; for me its consistent feature is a staggering complexity.

Jordan’s photographs are beautiful and shocking, intricate and thought provoking. I urge you to visit Jordan’s sight and view each photo while taking into account what we as individuals can do to change the shocking reality. And if you or a group of motivated students happen to have an idea about taking action, consider applying to our venture program for an opportunity to get 1,000$ to support your socially innovative idea!

Ever wished you could keep track of how eco-friendly you were at home? Well, the Danish Designnord group has created a visual electricity meter for home use. The FlowerPod, a semi-transparent screen with an electronic flower display, grows blooms or wilts according to how thrifty its inhabitants have been in regards to their heating, cooling, water and electricity use.

If too much energy is used, the flower will wilt or die until the user changes their wasteful habits. It would connect wirelessly to a home’s energy meters and use an Internet-based home page that keeps track of average energy use in the user’s city or region. The home page would suggest ways to improve energy usage if your flower was in trouble and would only use electricity at certain intervals when getting data from the homepage.

At the moment, the FlowerPod is only a concept, but Designnord hopes to produce it for the 2009 post-Kyoto climate agreement talks in Copenhagen.

Its makers hope that the plant can remind people to save energy.

Personally, I think the FlowerPod is a great idea. It reminds me of my old Giga-Pet, (Who met an unfortunate end back in 1998) but with an energy-saving twist. As long as you don’t drop it in the bathtub, you’ll have a flower blooming in your home all year round.

Although I don’t think the Girl Scouts are going to be selling boxes of CFL lightbulbs instead of cookies any time soon—why change a good and delicious thing?--groups of other stripes are always looking for creative ways to raise money for their organizations. Now your group can choose to sell recycled paper goods, green home cleaners, energy-efficient showerheads, and yes, low-energy lightbulbs through several Web-based green fundraising organizations. You register your group on the Web site, tell your prospective buyers to visit it and make their purchases, and your group gets a check in the mail.

LetsGoGreen.biz and Greenraising.comoffer groups the opportunity to earn between 25% and 40% of the price on each eco-conscious product their friends and relatives buy. This percentage is not as high as on traditional fundraising items—typically 50% to 75%--because traditional items are mass-produced, often overseas, thus cheaper to produce, making it easier to pass on a greater percentage of the profit. But green fundraising contains an educational and pro-environmental aspect—for both buyers and sellers--that can make up for the lower profit.

And if consumers like the products, they can keep on buying through the fundraising websites, generating additional income for the group after the initial drive is over. So if your group can operate with a steady stream of income instead of a one-time payment as in the traditional model, green fundraising may be something to think about.

Now if only there were a way to keep on buying Girl Scout cookies…

UPDATE: After we posted this story, we heard from the folks at Divide The Ride, a service that busy parents can use to form carpools for their kids. Parents enter their kids' activity schedule and invite families they know and trust to join the carpool. A carpool calendar is created and families who join the carpool will be emailed a complete schedule and reminders. Divide the Ride claims it's the only service designed exclusively for parents...and what parent couldn't use an extra set of wheels, for free?

My mother likes to tell a story about my father going to get gas for the car one winter’s night, long ago. Our regular gas station was about a half-mile away; under normal circumstances, a less-than-15-minute errand.

But there was nothing normal about the energy crisis of 1973.

Later – after two hours and one frantic call from my mother to a neighbor to go out and track him down – my father returned with a tale of going to our gas station, only to wait on line and watch the gas run out before he got any. He went from empty station to empty station, and was able to find some gas somewhere, eventually. Soon after that he joined a four-man carpool of co-workers for his daily 30-mile trip (one way) from our home in suburban Long Island to his job at John F. Kennedy Airport in Queens.

And here we sit, 35 years later, alone again in our cars, again running out of gas…

As we enter the era of post-peak oil production, carpooling is reappearing as a strategy to cope with dwindling supplies and sky-high prices. But instead of asking around at work to find potential co-riders (still a great option), you can use one of a handful of Internet-based companies to find or offer your ride. NuRide, Essex, Connecticut, matches potential carpoolers using profiles and criteria that users choose, and provides an email system so they can contact each other. Users can earn rewards such as gift cards to major retailers when they earn a certain number of points based on rides completed. According to NuRide, in 2007 its members arranged 400,000 carpools, traveled about 12.5 million miles less, and saved half a million gallons of gas. NuRide requires users to be affiliated with an organization such as a university or a business, so there is some level of security for users.

So pair up and start your Prius…

If you don't have a subscription to GOOD Magazine, here's yet another reason to get one: Vampire Energy. As usual, GOOD uses hipster-approved graphics to educate us on issues like energy use.

So before the sun comes up:

1. check out this cool visual
2. unplug a few things in your house
3. get a subscription to GOOD

You'll be happy you did.

Two members of the New York City Council have introduced a trailblazing bill, Intro. 104, the Electronics Collection, Recycling, and Reuse Act, which, if passed later this year, would be the first mandatory municipal electronics recycling law in the country. It would make manufacturers responsible for collection and disposal of products when no longer usable, instead of leaving this task to consumers, who often simply dump them in the trash.

The bill’s 43 council sponsors believe it would encourage manufacturers to adopt more environmentally friendly designs, since they would held liable if products are not disposed of properly. It would also reduce the more than 25,000 tons of discarded electronics New York City collects each year. These products comprise the fastest-growing part of the city’s waste stream, and can contain mercury, lead, cadmium, and other hazardous materials. When burned or deposited in landfills improperly, they leach into the soil and are released into the air.

Intro. 104 is supported by Consumers Union, and the Natural Resources Defense Council and other environmental groups, who are urging Mayor Michael Bloomberg to sign the legislation. If it is passed this year, companies would have a year to design collection plans, and the bill would take effect in 2009.

To learn more about the bill, visit
Intro. 104

To learn what you can do to support the bill, visit
NRDC's Action Campaign

According to a new study, cutting down forests to grow crops for fuel causes more environmental damage than using biofuels can ever offset.

The quick moves to pass legislation to expand subsidies for crops, such as corn, that can be turned into biofuels was the first red flag. Can we stop the trend of businesses doing things that seem green, but are better for their bottom lines than for the environment?

Interestingly enough, one of the researchers brought environmental responsibility back to the basics: reducing consumption and improving fuel efficiency. We don't need to, nor should we, burn forests. What is needed is conscious living and reasonable public policy. To read the article, "Can't See The Forest For The Biofuels" go to Wired Science.

Just in time for Halloween...

For more DIY videos from threadbanger, visit the Threadbanger website or the "DIY Vintage Jeans w/ Coffee" video featured on Grist.

Everyday we make choices about the food we eat. How much money do we spend on food? Is it healthy? Was it grown and processed in a way that damages the environment?

This TIME Magazine photo slideshow gives a glimpse of the the similarities and differences between different cultures in terms of food. Some spend less than $2 a week, others spend over $500. Some eat mostly fresh produce, others eat mostly pre-packaged food. What I like about this slideshow is that it challenges our notions of what a "normal" diet is.

What do you think? Check out the slideshow at TIME's site, and leave a comment.

Conscious Lifestyle was founded on the idea that we don't have to wait for elections to make a change. Everyday we have an opportunity for vote for kind of world we want through ordinary actions: eating food, investing our time, choosing how to dress, talk, etc. In this globalized world even small, sometimes overlooked actions, can have a ripple effect that can be felt around the world. In a word, it's about living a lifestyle in which we are aware of how our decisions affect other people and the environment.

Whole Foods' Whole Body campaign reflects the philosophy behind Conscious Lifestyle. Consumers who are already eating organic and local foods may want more, say, cosmetics, herbal supplements, or toothpaste that's all natural. Whole Body provides information and products on those "beyond food" topics. There's even a podcast for the really ambitious.

Some may see Whole Body as an expensive business move that goes one step too far. Nonetheless, it is a step in the right decision. Whole foods led the way in making local and organic foods mainstream. Perhaps it will do the same with the other products we buy.