(no subject)

[huntz]

last friday, kathy, a coworker of mine told me about this talk at machine project (in echo park) given by author heather rogers. the topic was trash. it was a little depressing and not very hopeful. basically, our current inclination and disposition to consume and dispose is NOT natural. our history suggests that we have a natural tendency to reuse and recycle, but in our present state (post industrialization / capitalism), we have been conditioned to act otherwise. when disposable glass bottles were first introduced, there were actual marketing campaigns and printed instructions to let the buyer know that they should throw away the container. another issue raised was the idea of built-in obsolescence, where the goal isn't to produce a lasting, durable product, but to have buyers, over time, continually repurchase the same item. and our recycling industry is itself a sham. anyways, these things are not new, but are very easy to not think about. sigh.

oh, yeah.. there is also apparently a plastic vortex, the size of texas, in the middle of the pacific ocean. perfect.

so, to cheer up, we went to the brite spot afterward, and i had myself some cheesecake and coffee. worked like a charm.