venom

Yesterday I met a friend for a cup of coffee at Alan Brothers to enjoy the savory goodness of life and friendship. Somehow conversation turned to the State Of Things in the World. We talked about America’s need for consumption, and how our culture is swiftly suffocating and overtaking the ideals of the rest of the world (just like when the alien goo took over in Spiderman 3!)

It was so refreshing to talk to someone else who is taking proactive steps to support local businesses, use alternate transportation, and pretty much do what she can to help the cause. In the past 3 days since I’ve been home, I’ve spent quadruple the time on my bike than in my car. My experience in the South Pacific blessed me with the concept of Fiji Time, which translates to “Take your time. Enjoy the ride. We’ll get there when we get there.” With this, it’s easy for me to carelessly ride my bike wherever I need to go; for others, it’s not so easy. If only people could take a step back and realize that instant gratification isn’t required for happiness.

I know this is drilled into everyone’s heads, but it doesn’t seem like people get it: THE LITTLE THINGS COUNT. Bike to the store, get a for-here coffee cup, recycle your beer can, buy food from a farmers market, turn the lights off, eat free-range meat. These seem so small, but if everyone did them it would mean BIG THINGS. I found this website today: www.chrisjordan.com. Photographer Chris Jordan, who is appalled by the accumulated detritus of our consumption, documents the collections of our consuming nation in order for people to reflect on the necessity of the excess. Look. Think. Act.

Cell Phones: Depicts 426,000 cell phones, equal to the number of cell phones retired in the US every day.