Elvis glasses laying around the house |
Then come the questions of waste. What do I do with the old
ones? They’re no good to anyone anymore, cracked and lens-less as they are, and
they can’t be recycled, so they go to a landfill. Did you know there’s a trash
continent in the middle of the Pacific Ocean? It’s referred to as the Great
Pacific Garbage Patch and is mainly made up of plastic debris and decomposing
bits of plastic that harm wildlife and introduce non-native species as the
plastic floats from place to place. Search for “trash continent” on
YouTube—it’s gross! And landfills are not any prettier. Worldwide and even in
the United States, studies show that landfills are disproportionately near the
communities of people of color. Americans cause a lot of waste worldwide, but
the middle-upper class white population is hardly required to face into this
waste because it’s sloughed off in minority areas or in less-developed
countries. Not only is my trash an environmental problem, but it’s also an
issue of justice that disproportionately affects minorities, the poor and those
in the “Third World.”
This leads me to the question of my own sense of
entitlement. When faced with a broken pair of sunglasses, or other cheap,
relatively disposable item, my immediate thought is that I will go out and buy
a replacement. I am not wealthy by American standards, but I do have a
comfortable income with food on the table and more than enough to cover basic
necessities. I so often act as if I’m entitled to just go to the store and
purchase whatever it is I need or want.
In fact, it’s rather convenient that I lose or break
sunglasses often, because then I can get some new ones with a higher “cool”
quotient, since sunglasses and fashion designers
ever-so-subtly-and-convincingly tell us that styles change from year to year
(or month to month), and it’s so easy to believe them. While I’m grateful for
the creativity and self-expression that some people are able to effortlessly
exude through their clothing choice, I’m also aware that fashion and being
in-style are luxuries that also have the effect of making people feel badly
about themselves. Whether we like it or not, as a society we judge people based
on appearances in so many ways, and the coolness-level of their sunglasses is
one such way.
In purchasing the latest style of sunglasses, then, in many
ways we’re telling the world, “Look at me! I have the means to buy this trendy
pair of shades. I have the level of coolness to know what’s ‘in,’ and therefore
I’m more worthy of your love than others who don’t have the economic or social
resources I do.”
Therefore, as a reminder to myself and a way to try to break
down this system that bases value on what we can afford and on how “cool” we
can convince people we are, as well as this “disposable” culture, I’m going to
try to make the commitment to wear “found” sunglasses that no one else wants,
or to buy them used. If none of these options are available, I guess I’ll have
to get used to squinting, or wear a hat!
UPDATE:
Two friends already took pity on me and donated sunglasses that they no longer use or they found and can't figure out whose they are...it's amazing what community can do!
UPDATE:
"New" shades from a friend |
If you’re interested, here are some sources regarding the
distribution of worldwide waste and garbage in the oceans:
Bullard, Robert D. “Poverty, Pollution and Environmental
Racism: Strategies for Building Healthy and Sustainable Communities.” Paper
presented to the National Black Environmental Justice Network (NBEJN)
Environmental Racism Forum World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD)
Global Forum Johannesburg, South Africa July 2, 2002. http://www.ejrc.cau.edu/PovpolEj.html
Bullard, Robert D. “BP’s Waste Management Plan Raises
Environmental Justice Concerns.” Dissident
Voice: a radical newsletter in the struggle for peace and social justice.
July 29, 2010. http://dissidentvoice.org/2010/07/bp%E2%80%99s-waste-management-plan-raises-environmental-justice-concerns/
Gorman, Steve. “Scientists study huge plastic patch in
Pacific,” Reuters, August 4, 2009. http://www.reuters.com/article/2009/08/04/us-ocean-plastics-idUSTRE5730ET20090804
Norton, Jennifer M., Steve Wing, Hester J. Lipscomb, Jay S.
Kaufman, Stephen W. Marshall, and Aitha J. Cravey. 2007. "Race, Wealth,
and Solid Waste Facilities in North Carolina." Environmental Health
Perspectives 115, no. 9: 1344-1350.Academic Search Premier,
EBSCOhost (accessed June 14, 2013).
Yandle, Tracy, and Dudley Burton. 1996. "Reexamining
Environmental Justice: A Statistical Analysis of Historical Hazardous Waste
Landfill Siting Patterns in Metropolitan Texas." Social Science
Quarterly (University Of Texas Press) 77, no. 3: 477-492. Academic
Search Premier, EBSCOhost (accessed June 14, 2013).
Katz, Eric. 1995. "Imperialism and
Environmentalism." Social Theory & Practice 21, no. 2:
271-285. Academic Search Premier, EBSCOhost (accessed June 14, 2013).
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