StyrostackLondon, ON
March 2010
You get the strangest looks from people when you lean in for an artsy-looking photo of styrofoam. They think you're a little odd-kilter. They don't necessarily have to say it. The look in their eye, the raised eyebrow, the slight catch in their voice: Yup, they clearly think you're weird.
Which is fine, because you wouldn't want to pass up an opportunity to entertain them. Life's too short to spend it sitting quietly within the crowd. Sometimes, you've got to get up and stretch your legs, even if it means getting some stares along the way.
This picture makes me more than a little sad. We've reached a point in our evolution as a species that we give no thought to what it takes to move stuff from one side of the planet to the other. We think we're technological wizards for merely having that ability, for being able to build supply chains that get the highest quality goods to our doorstep at the lowest possible price.
We don't think too much about the resources required to make all this happen. And as I stared at this styrofoam - which, in my neck of the woods, isn't recyclable, and probably demanded some seriously noxious materials and processes during its manufacture - I wondered if we'd ever return to the day when things were made close to home, and it didn't take a PhD in chemical engineering to get it to your doorstep unbroken.
Somewhere along the way, I fear we lost the script.
Your turn: Did we? Is cheaply made stuff from China going to kill our planet?
One more thing: It's not too late to share your black & white vision as part of this week's Thematic. Just go here to participate. We promise you no styrofoam will be harmed in the process.
