Monday, May 26, 2008

a scenic landscape is not a garbage can

This photograph, gorgeous but for that blemish of a bottle, was sent to me by my ex.
And there I was thinking his creativity didn't extend beyond the bedroom!

I love this image because I started to absorb that golden sand, those lush green trees and the emerald lake water before even realizing there was garbage in the shot. Then, of course, it's all I could focus on.

Like so much of the pollution that affects our lives and our health, it's hiding in plain sight. I can't see the pollution in my city's air (not today, at least. Ask me again mid-July...) but I know it's there because my throat's closing up.

So many of us concentrate on the symptoms and forget about the underlying cause. Let's see it, focus on it, and find ways lead lives that honour the planet instead of crushing it under our feet.

(And thanks for the image, X. Beautifully done.)

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Programming Note: To celebrate next Monday's official release of COMING TOGETHER: WITH PRIDE, there will be an interruption in our regularly-scheduled broadcast of THIS IS NOT A GARBAGE CAN. Tune in to join the excitement!