Waste and Consumerism

“ Collectively we are committing a vast and unsustainable act of taking, but we each are anonymous and no one is in charge or accountable for the consequences. I fear that in this process we are doing irreparable harm to our planet and to our individual spirits….”

In Chris Jordan’s statement these are the most powerful lines (above). We have somehow come to abuse all the resources available to us. All we do is buy more and more everyday and in turn waste more and more everyday. All the pictures in his gallery are shocking. The cell phones, the cigarette butts, the circuit boards and the cell phone chargers just prove how wasteful we are. This all has made me think of how much I am contributing to the destruction of the environment. Sadly, I realized that I am hurting the environment a lot.

So why do we need to buy new things all the time? Every now and then a member in my house buys a new cell phone because of some new feature it comes with when the old phone is just as good and works perfectly fine. What happens to the old one? It lies around the house for emergency use (in case someone’s phone doesn’t work which probably never happens and even if it does there is an urge to buy a new one). No one feels accountable for such waste even though all this wasteful acts harm our planet greatly.

Cell phones I found in my house that are used (4) and unused (5):

These are cables I found in my drawer (not house) which I never use and have no idea when and why I got them…. Sadly, wasteful and a not so wise consumer.

All the waste we produce and which we should be accountable for the disposal of, is sent other countries such as China. This is really very shocking and disturbing. Why aren’t we the ones breathing in toxic air that is being produced by us. We have so many laws against racism and equality yet we tend to violate them the most. Our waste should stay on our land so we learn not to produce so much waste. It’s horrible to take advantage of the underdeveloped countries.

Once we start to see extreme consequences only then will we realize that we are causing global warming. We need to wise consumers and not wasteful consumers. Once we realize this our souls will not be in peace, not because of the destruction we have caused but because in our hearts we would know we could have done something to prevent it.