STATEMENT.
As you could see, these three experiments were more of a transitional set of experiments than three clearly separated ones. One thing lead to the other (1. collecting the boxes, 2. wetting the boxes and 3.) making me get into the bathtub with these beautifully wet boxes. It was just another way of literally feeling what it means to drown in your own waste, making my own body perceptive to the haptic of these twentythree boxes. And, as I have mentioned more than enough, and will emphasise once more: they’re the outcome of just six days of collecting boxes that I would have thrown out otherwise. Now imagine doing that for a month. Or a year. I’d be buried in that shit.
Also, be aware of the fact that these are just the box-shaped things that I collected. There is so much more waste that actually landed in the bin during these six days. Like plastic wrappers, wrapping paper, paper bags, tags and labels, and PLASTIC BAGS. Seriously, I think Australia might have a severe problem with these. They’re everywhere. And they are just thrown around by people like they are for free. Which is because they are (in most shops). In Australia. You seem to get every single item packed into a different plastic bag at the checkout at Coles before you can protest, which is why I do the self service checkout thing, because it lets me use my own bags. In other countries, like a lot of European countries or even some of the states in the USA, they have implemented a fee for plastic bags at checkouts, making you rethink the decision of taking home three plastic bags, when in fact, you already have twohundredandseventynine other plastic bags stashed in the hugest plastic bag in a cabinet in your kitchen.
(While we’re at it, check out Rob Greenfield’s experiment of wearing his trash on his body for 30 days.)
Now imagine that a lot of this waste does not end up being recycled, but ends up.....in the ocean. And because so much of it does not actually dissolve (plastic shit, but even coffee cups because they have a special lining that keeps the cups from sogging, not to mention their lids) it’s even worse. So to all you Aussie surfer boys and girls, divers, coral fans, and marine wildlife lovers: We have to start being more mindful about the waste involved in what we buy/eat/consume/do.
I didn’t plan out for this statement to go this far afield, but hey, it happens.
