My goddaughter Grace telling a story.
Not to be outdown, her sister Kate followed suit.I was reading my friend's pastor's blog today and he's got a link to a great video, "The Story of Stuff". Some of the information was a little simplistic, but it's done in an entertaining and non-angry way. As a Christian (I mean me, I don't know anything about her spiritual life), obviously the stewardship of the earth is really important, but she also mentions the human exploitation inherent in our current system, which is to me the main issue. I really like the way she explained why a radio doesn't really cost the $4.99 we pay for it. She also discusses planned obsolescence and perceived obsolescence, which I also think are critical.
Two of the interesting facts she mentions is that in the past 30 years the US house size has doubled, and our household trash has doubled. I think about these things a lot now that I'm out of the country. My apartment looks about the same size as my last house, about 900 square feet. It's considered gigantic here, even for several people to live in.
Fun related fact: when I went to buy envelopes at a tiny paper and office supply store, I was asked if I wanted to buy just one envelope or the pack of 10! (Office Max sells boxes of 100.) Now granted, efficiency may not be the name of the game here.
In other news, we had to take a detour on our way out to Baradero on Wednesday evening. We were told by the traffic guy that it was due to picketers, which wasn't surprising since the farm crisis continues. However, we found out later it was due to a truck losing its entire load of lemons, apparently 44,000 pounds! Thankfully no one was hurt. See these reporters' blog for details, and click on the links for photos and a video where you can see the lemons falling and a guy running out of the way into oncoming traffic. The discussion on the news then turned to the ever-increasing prices on produce, which is talked about daily due to both the farm crisis and now its relationship with the global food crisis. Argentine reporters and commentators repeatedly compare Argentina's non-response to the global crisis (continue the focus on raising taxes on exports) to Brazil's response (increase exports and donations to starving nations).
Here's the whole family, Ken, Jenny, Kate, and Grace. I got to pop up to see them in Michigan for a few hours thanks to a vehicle loaned to me by my Dad and Bev while I was in Cleveland.
