awakeningThen I thought, "No, I don't want to litter."
And then I looked around at the billboards. And I watched the diesels and H2's and Civics whizzing by on the I35 overpass in front of me. And I realized that the earth is already littered with concrete, and advertising, and parking lots. But here I sit, wondering if it's ok to put a grapefruit peel on the ground.
1 comment:
Joe,
Thanks for your thoughts. I think I know the word you're thinking of for the billboards and I'd recommend, "Culture Jam" by Kalle Lasn as good reading in that arena.
I go a different direction though when you raise the question, "what difference could it make?" You're right, there is already so much destruction of the natural landscape, but I think that's why ultimately I decided to keep the peel in my lap and put it in the trash at work. If even the people who realize the world is littered with garbage give in, then there really is no hope. In this case, it was a proportionately tiny thing, a grapefruit peel is pretty small...just like a mustard seed.
The other thing is that I intentionally included Civics (or in my case, a Corolla) in the equation with billboards and Hummers. I despise Hummers as much as any other tree-hugger, but the sad truth is that the gradual destruction of Creation is systemic, not individual.
That's why thinking about throwing the peel out of the window was a moment for me. I think we should be protecting the environment, but here I am driving to work. Should I be riding a bike instead? What if it's raining? Should I find a job in Coppell so I can walk and carry an umbrella if I need to?
Whenever I start on this line of questioning, I usually end up at, "It's just so stinking impractical and in some cases, impossible." And that is why I say that the problem is systemic because individual people hardly have any choice but to continue participating in something that they believe to be immoral, sinful or both.
This has become more of a short post, instead of a reply and so thanks again Joe for your thoughts. You've definitely given me more to think about and I'm sure you've given the people who read this blog something to ponder as well.
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