Sight and Ecology

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While reading "Seeing the Divine Image in India" I was struck by one reference in which Eck described not only India's religious sights, but also how they are constantly seeing poor and disabled community members on the streets. I liken sight to awareness and connected this idea to ecology.

We often throw out what we don't want, and don't care because the trash gets taken out that night or the next day leaving us with a fresh bin. But where does it go? Do we ever really see that- the piles of trash we no longer care about? In another ecology class we talked about the idea that "there is no such thing as away" and that just because it is out of sight doesn't mean it should be out of mind.

It made me wonder what a difference just seeing would make in our current ecological crisis. What if our trash was only picked up once a month? What if we had to live with the full bags of trash for that month, seeing them everyday. Maybe if we could just see how much we are wasting it would make us a little more conscious. 

I watched a video recently on a Jewish summer camp and all the kids, after every meal, had to scrape their uneaten food from their plates into a communal bucket that would be weighed. Their goal was to decrease the weight of this bucket over the course of their time at camp- to realize how much they were wasting and either eat more or take less. The way they changed their ways was by seeing this bucket. Seeing how much they had wasted. 

What would happen if we did this at Wheaton? I think people would be astonished to see how much we waste and the mere sight of our bucket would be enough to change some habits. 

Comments

  1. Jonathan Brumberg-KrausApril 12, 2015 at 2:25 PM

    Good point. Though your image of the landfill trash pile is striking in an almost beautiful way, with its vibrant colors. It even evoked the chaotic splash of colors (and smells) Eck describes as one of her first impressions of India. Was that intentional on your part?

    ReplyDelete
  2. Maia WhiteApril 12, 2015 at 8:32 PM

    It was not, but now I wish it was! I can see how the blue of the sky is playing up the blue of the trash bags. And looking at this picture does make me imagine what kinds of chaotic sights, sounds, and smells, I would encounter there.

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