Stop Buying Trash!

 

https://stopbuyingtrash.wixsite.com/stopbuyingtrash

stopbuyingtrash is a web project intended to communicate the need to rethink our habits as the consumers of the world. Changing these habits is a project I’ve believed in for years and a goal I have set for myself in my own life, and I thought this would be a good opportunity to spread the message. I had originally intended to publicly project images and videos drawing attention to the issue with a link to the site on the walls of high-traffic areas around my campus, but found that I lacked the appropriate hardware to do so. Instead I shared the site via a campus-wide email, and it has now been visited several dozen times. I hope those who have visited the site have found it helpful in changing their perspective on consumption, but communication from site viewers to me is rather limited. Web design is not my strong suit, so I was not able to include all the features I wanted at first, such as an anticonsumption leaderboard or more interactive blog.

I chose a primarily visual project because landfills are largely hidden from the public eye. We imagine an abstract “away,” some sort of black hole that happily destroys without consequence our unwanted materials after we are done with them. But there is no “away.” There is only here, our very finite and already overburdened planet. I think it is important to expose people to images of landfills, giant and expanding islands of garbage, each scarring dozens to hundreds of acres of land, to connect the dots that each coffee cup we dispose of helps these mountains of trash to rise, much like the imperceptible but powerful tectonic forces which raise real mountains. Broward County’s landfill already stands over 200 feet tall; Apex Regional outside of Las Vegas spans over 600 acres. To see images of these monuments to consumption is emotionally impactful, and communicates the magnitude of the issue.

Included in the site are some tools that I’ve found helpful in trying to generate less waste, such as the purchase flow chart and encouragement to swap disposable items for reusables. There is also a timer which I started during work on the site, denoting the duration of my own renewed attention to a waste-free lifestyle, by which I intend to encourage others to similarly time themselves (I wanted the timer to start independently for each visitor on the site, in order to instill a sense of urgency and accountability, but was not tech-savvy enough to find such a feature). Similarly, the site contains a blog (the “Reusablog”) in which I listed some of the tips that have helped me change my habits, and which I would like to open for public contribution, but I remain unsure how to include that feature.

I realize that much of the site’s message is of consumer responsibility, which I acknowledge removes the responsibility of trash and its production from producers to consumers. This shortcoming could very well be a product of my own bias as an American, having been told for much of my upbringing that my personal choices matter and communicate to producers the will of the consumer. This is not always the case, and a campaign targeted at producers of garbage (e.g., Coca-Cola) may have produced a greater net reduction on the amount of garbage entering the waste stream. But my resources for this project were limited, so I decided to aim at something I thought more achievable.

All this is not to say that I think personal action is meaningless. Collective, targeted action is required, yes, but each of our actions matter inasmuch as we are part of the collective. Since we must challenge consumption, we must do so not through the identity of the consumer, but through the identity of the anti-consumer: one who gets by as best one can with what one has, and only buys new goods when absolutely necessary. Evolution of a collective environmental consciousness requires the cultivation of individual environmental consciousnesses. Each of us must be the change, by changing the way that we continue to be.

If you believe in the message, and think that we need to change our ways to avoid ecological disaster, join me in committing to the change. If you use social media, please spread the word using the hashtag #stopbuyingtrash and share your zero-waste tips.

https://stopbuyingtrash.wixsite.com/stopbuyingtrash