Influential Images
A photoblog of not-so-pleasing-plastic eye candy
Where it all began: The cover of a 1955 Time Magazine entitled “Throwaway Living”. After the war ended, we had the infrastructure to produce plastic but had to train our brains to create the demand for these items. We were forced to transition from an era of scarcity and an agrarian society to an economy fueled by factories and industry boom. Who knew that this would be the perfect equation for landfills and seas filled with debris and an intolerable atmosphere? They look so happy in this photo. Women take off your bras and stop doing dishes (also throw your garbage into outerspace)!
I think this photo sums it all up pretty nicely…
And as this waste outlives and outlasts our children, grandchildren and the other millions of species we share this planet with, will our plastic be our legacy?
(above photos courtesy of the Surfrider Foundation)
