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How many aluminum cans??? 106,000 every 30 seconds!!!

West Coast Green 2008 was an amazing and out of the box experience. It is so much more than a conference for all who attend. One of the speakers for the opening session was Chris Jordan, lawyer turned artist, photographer and perhaps eco activist.

Chris puts a face on our overconsumption. He says we are much like a family of alcoholics. We are all alcoholics, sitting around with empty vodka bottles everywhere and eventually don't notice the empty vodka bottles. Our over consumption is just so overwhelming that we don't see it anymore.

In North America we discard 106,000 aluminum soda cans every 30 seconds!!! Chris' illustration is a photograph of 106,000 soda cans. From a distance it is an interesting looking piece of art, colorful, it compels you to look closer. When you get closer you see the individual cans of soda all lined up. YES it is overwhelming. The number (106,000) every 30 seconds sends astonished gasps through the audience as Chris shows the photo and relays the information. He is a charming and compelling speaker. He feels his value to this effort is that he puts a face on our over consumption. The other message is that only 50% of those 106,000 every 30 seconds is recycled.

Can we do better? As Maya Angelou says "...and when you know better, you'll do better". YES we can, I know for one, everytime I go to throw one away I'll be reminded by this thought and recycle. Soda isn't good for us anyway, so probably we should drink more water, but that's another blog post.

See below for Chris' statement as per his website. AND, visit his website for more information. He's inspiring to say the least. On the website home page you'll see a few examples of his work.

http://chrisjordan.com/

Intolerable Beauty: Portraits of American Mass Consumption

Exploring around our country's shipping ports and industrial yards, where the accumulated detritus of our consumption is exposed to view like eroded layers in the Grand Canyon, I find evidence of a slow-motion apocalypse in progress. I am appalled by these scenes, and yet also drawn into them with awe and fascination. The immense scale of our consumption can appear desolate, macabre, oddly comical and ironic, and even darkly beautiful; for me its consistent feature is a staggering complexity.

The pervasiveness of our consumerism holds a seductive kind of mob mentality. 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.

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.

~cj

Terrylynn Fisher, Realtor, Walnut Creek, California

Live Green, Live Smart Certified Trainer and 1st designated CP Realtor www.StagersLIST.com www.StagingExpo.com www.Terrylynn-n-Team.com www.GreenTrainingTeam.com

Terrylynn Fisher, Realtor DRE #615420

- Terrylynn has been a Realtor in Contra Costa County for over 32 years. She works with Diablo Realty in Walnut Creek and is consistently a top producer. Terrylynn is a local expert, please contact her for any Real Estate needs, or with a question about the area. Visit www.BuyStageSell.com to learn more about Terrylynn and her team of Real Estate Professionals and Staging Professionals, and how their award winning results can earn you more equity $$$ when you sell a home. We even stage our short sales! Why? Because it works.

Posted by Terrylynn Fisher, Realtor Staging Consultant, EcoBroker, CRS, Etc. on 09/29/2008 03:27 AM

Comments (35)

Green Information in the Regional (Localism) Channel

recycling, chris jordan, green, green training, green build science, walnut creek, terrylynn fisher, 94521, 94596, 94520, 94519

Originally posted at: Terrylynn's Blog: How many aluminum cans??? 106,000 every 30 seconds!!!

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35 Comments on How many aluminum cans??? 106,000 every 30 seconds!!!

SEP

2008

Hi Terrylynn...

Way off topic here. So what else is new right? :)

Anyway...Got the contact. I'm up just cuzz I'm excited about going home today. Definitely feeling wide awake and ready to close this chapter of my life. I figure if I'm going to be awake I might as well try to play a little game of catch up in the rain . Yah. Like that is even an option after a two week sabbatical :)

P.S. I have no idea what happened to this comment. All I did was turn on the Google Spell Check.

TLW...ROAR!

TLW - So happy to see you on AR! We are all excited you are going home today! I'm so glad you're feeling better!

Mom - Great info about recycling the cans... I'm going to check out his art. You know I'm a sucker for art.

SEP

2008

TLW - GREAT to hear from you anyway. It's the things we love to do that make us feel alive and well. And good that you are getting back in the swing.

I don't understand soda...never really liked it, and never drink it now. I completely agree, it's bad for us, especially with the high fructose corn syrup that replaced real cane sugar in it years ago - or the chemical diet version. Just think what the consequences could be if people stopped chugging it!

Terrylynn,
No question, we are a wasteful society with all the disposable products and packaging. We all can do our part and I think it is time for the manufacturers to do their part and stop using double and triple packages.

Suzanne - agree wholeheartedly, it is SOOO bad for your health.

OCT

2008

All caught up on my email and I did find that little something you sent ... Thank you. Much appreicated. appreciated

appreciated. Okay. Now it's spelled correctly :)

TLW...ROAR!

OCT

2008

You are most welcome and it was our pleasure. Glad you are on the mend and back giving your wisdom and cheer to our posts. T

OCT

2008

Hi Terrylynn, It is astonishing! I think about that and my water bottles. I MUST go by the refillable ones NOW! God bless, thanks for sharing.

Terrylynn,

We are mostly oblivious to some of the daily routines we deal with, including handling soda cans. Recycling them could surely make a big difference in the effort to give the earth a better chance.

OCT

2008

Cheryl, I know what you mean...at first I was so proud to have this HUGE recycle bin for all the plastic bottles, and then as you think about this mission and the goal you realize that using fewer plastic bottles is really the new goal, and we keep evolving and moving forward.

OCT

2008

Your post has inspired me to smile as I lug my soda habit into the recycling center.

I really hope I can make West Coast Green next year.

I am sure it was amazing.

These are amazing statistics! We have deposit in Oregon on soda cans, so save them to lug back to the store for 5 cents each -- however no one likes this chore, so they tend to stack up . . . recently my hubby put down the law -- no more soda until cans were returned and no more storing of cans! We didn't drink much soda before and water is better for us anyway!

OCT

2008

Esko, that is for sure, and then there is the day I was so excited I had my recycle bin full to the top of the plastic water bottles and the light bulb went on and I realized that truly my impact would be greater if I used my brita and saved the landfill from the plastic bottles. Hum, one step leads to another and then we can't go back.

OCT

2008

Sabrina, I just emailed them for the dates for next year so I can get it on my calendar, I'll report it when I have them. Perhaps you can come, would love to meet you.

I know on the soda can. UGH. I was so happy my recycle bin was full, rather than putting them in the trash, then realized I probably should drink them anyway. Oh, my evolving.

OCT

2008

Margaret, I am with you. We drink much less soda and now encourage our grandkids to drink less too. SO, now we have the water bottles everywhere, oui vey...we'll have to tackle this one step at a time, I guess.

OCT

2008

It's only one small step in the right direction, but what if as business owners we committed ourselves to purchasing one bin to dedicate for recycle for every one trash bin we have on hand? In Vacaville we are so lucky to have big rolling totes like our garbage cans that get rolled down to the curb, we take our water bottles to the recycle center, but throw all sorts of recyclable containers in the free bin.

Ronelle, I know, and our communities can help alot if they will come up with these good solutions. SO if we don't have stuff like that we should ask. Nice to see you here. T

OCT

2008

Terrylynn - what sobering statistics! We have a great recycling program in our area that benefits the schools and environment. You deposit your used cans at a convenient location that is always open and the school takes it from there. They recycle the cans and use the money to fund scholarships and other school programs. The whole community is able to participate.

I think we need something like this on the east coast. It seems like the west coast grasps new ideas much more quickly.

Michelle, YES I was stunned and really just ashamed of myself for being so cavalier about it for so long. SO am changing my ways. You have a great set up there, good idea, hopefully other communities will follow suit and use you as examples. Thanks for commenting.

OCT

2008

Diane They do have an East Coast Green I believe in Boston and I think it's this coming week...something like that. SO, maybe you can still catch it. It was a wonderful event and I was pleased to be part of it. thanks for your comments.

I saw someone mentione the high fructose corn syrup aspect above. That to me is the worst part of soda. It is amazing how much of our corn production in this country is allocated to corn syrup production. Of course another huge chunk of corn production goes towards animal feed. King Corn is a pretty good documentary if this is a subject of interest.

Pete, thanks, we have the ethanol gas station that just opened in our area, !st in East Bay with high corn based product. Quite a versital crop. Seems instead of paying farmers not to grow they should all be growing corn.

As most nieghborhoods now days have seperate trash cans, I love when on trash day (of all things) I see homes with the recycling bin bursting and NOT the "trash" bin. Or b etter yet, when some homes have more than 1 recycle bin and only one trash bin.

One of our local schools does can recycling as one of their fund raisers since we've had so much in budget cuts in education. They collected so many cans that it paid for the computer lab for the entire year!

OCT

2008

Connie, I like the schools recycle idea. Actually our schools can use the help and it's good for our kids too, to see in action recycling and the results when we turn it into a positive environmental thing. Thanks for commenting. I love the analogy of this post as it's so visual that it helps to internalize the depth of the problem.

NOV

2008

Terrylynn,

That is a staggering number of soda cans. Add beer cans to it and we've got a real problem. Our education about recycling ought to be a higher priority before this thing gets out of hand.

NOV

2008

Esko, yes it is...Agreed, education is key to changing our habits and it would be so easy to do some of the things that would have a huge impact. Do you have green classes in your area? We teach them and would love to come to LV and teach, and have a little fun. THANKS for commenting.

When we were still living in NY, my mother and I used to sort soda/beer cans with my children and then drag them to the store to redeem for 5-cents each...those nickels turn into dollars very quickly! My mom gave the money to my kids to save and in no time they had a few hundred dollars saved just from doing that. PLUS, they recycled!

I don't know why every state doesn't do this...and at that rate (and that's an amazing # of cans), that would be a whole lot of money thrown in the trash or, conversely, a whole lot of money put back into somebody's pocket! =)

NOV

2008

Abby, how right you are. Good habits are good for everyone and for the planet.

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DEC

2008

I was listeningto public radio the other day, about a book, don't recall the name, but basically how the person decided to no longer contribute to anything that was landfill material by limiting his purchases. Thinking my own life, it seems just so impossible, but we can all begin with being aware, taking the first little step to recycling and avoiding over packaged goods.

Terrylynn,

Great post and reminder for us to continue recycling! I just saw a report on the local news last night, about the increase of business at the recycling centers because of the current economic crunch! They were stating that more and more individuals are recycling for extra spending cash because of the economy. It would be nice to see people recycle after we are through this though, and hopefully they will continue recycling for the good of our environments future!

DEC

2008

Mary, there was another book, can't remember the name of it either, but it talkes about a bet where two women made a bet to see how long they could go without spending any money on purchasing anything...They went for an entire year and one of them continued on for another year. After seeing how they could barter, trade, recycle, etc. It became easier as they found their resources. Interesting concept but it does take my breath away just thinking about it. We'd need a slow weaning...

DEC

2008

Michelle, a good trend huh? We need to participate and be a little more conscious. I hope they'll continue too. thanks for commenting.

AUG

Excuse me. Reveal not every secret you have to a friend, for how can you tell but that friend may hereafter become an enemy. And bring not all mischief you are able to upon an enemy, for he may one day become your friend. I am from Great and also am speaking English, give true I wrote the following sentence: "Let us look at some enjoyable preschool games that young children would enjoy and learn from." Best regards 8-), Juan.

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