Over-consumption is a tricky subject but one which is worth some reflection. Here are some sobering facts courtesy The Ecologist magazine:
- Every year UK households throw away the equivalent of of 3.5 million double decker buses of waste, a queue that would stretch from London to Sydney and back again
- In the UK we throw away a third of our food before we even eat it
- There are more credit cards in the UK than there are people
- It takes 1.9 hectares of biologically productive land per person to supply resources and absorb waste. The average person already uses 2.3 hectares
- The self-storage industry made £310m in 2005 and is growing by 4% a year as people run out of space to store ‘stuff’ in their homes
- 20% of those in the highest-income countries account for 86% of total private consumption, and the poorest 20% a tiny 1.3%
Chris Jordan is a photographer whose work focuses on consumption. His latest series, Running the Numbers, uses statistics to frame contemporary American culture. Thus, "Plastic Cups 2008" depicts "one million plastic cups, the number used on airline flights in the US every six hours."
Detail at actual print size:
"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."
Chris Jordan
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