I've gotten a lot of shit from people for picking up plastic one by one. They say I should "use my brain" to develop technologies for more scalable approaches that require less manual involvement instead of "muscling-through" the problem which they percieve as performative.
They talk so confidently as if they are so sure that I haven't gone through the exact same thought process for the past 10 years of doing what I do - like I haven't considered automation myself and I'm just purely close-minded or stupid for not implementing it.
My social media account, filled with footage of me picking up trash, the same exact thing every video, is an archive of my personal contributions that I compiled for my own enjoyment. I am aware of my miniscule contribution in the face of the quantity of plastic that is out there; and I do it not to claim that I am solving it on behalf of other people, but just taking out my share of it.
By the people for the people
Fast moving consumer goods manufacturers (FMCGs) are to blame for the quantity of stuff that exists, but for it to be out and about in the ecosystem, is our collective fault for not handling it properly. Even though tonnes of plastics are produced each second, they were sold to individuals who act as a railroad switch derailing it out of the anthtroposphere (the sphere of human activity). Every single snack wrapping, plastic bottle, has come in contact with somebody's hands, somebody's lips, we were very intimate with those things we throw away. To say that we have no fault in its presence in the open environment when we at some point had absolute control of its fate is a shameless relinquishment of accountability.
If you zoom in and focus on the trash itself, automated cleanup efforts seem like they solve the problem, but if you zoom out and see the trash in the context of society, you see how automated cleanup efforts only enable improper disposal behavior; by softening the blow to the perpetrators - people get to keep littering. Allthough this can also be the case with manual cleanup, if done by a community, it creates a value shift in society. Because when people are involved, they feel it, and feelings propagate faster and further in society than technology implementation. Thoughts and feelings are what values are, values influence behavior, and behavior influences the physical world.
Machine Boneyard or problem profiteering
there will come a time in the future when cleanup is no longer needed, when people dispose of waste properly and municipalities perfect their collection systems. The machines built during the times of plastic being all over the place will all be retired to sit somewhere in a museum or for the most part recycled for their parts. Putting an end to the "great plastic war" of the 21st century. But if we've learned anything from industrailization and wars; once the big one stops, small ones will "be made up" to serve the already-existing industry. Developing an industry to procure machines at scale will involve creating jobs, developing networks of trade, and lobbying to secure government contracts to sustain the company. Once established, the industry carries with it huge momentum - you can't just tell people, "Okay we don't need professionals anymore, the world is free from plastics, you can all just do something else." The momentum has to go somewhere, and if the company fails to evolve by shifting its mecahanisms to solve the relevant problems of its time, it will drag the only problem it knows how to solve into the future just so it can keep being seen as solving it.
You might say, "Wait a minute, isn't that exactly what you're doing? You're just cleaning up slowly so you can always be seen as solving it, basically dragging out the hours!" Not if its done by more people because they finally see how its so fun. Picking up trash isn't rocket science, even a dog can be trained to do it. To scale the activity is to instill this action into habit, and instill the habit into culture. Once it's solved communally, we have nothing left lying around but the memory and pride of having been a part of it. Trust me, this problem could be solved in one generation if we invest in education more than machine procurement; both are important, but if education is done perfectly there will be no need for the field fixes, meanwhile field fixes can be done perfectly and it will barely make up for the lack of education. I can change what I'm doing in a heartbeat because its an independent activity, I'm not worried about defunking equipment or having to restructure an entire company. I can just move to waste management and composting once cleanup is no longer a need.
--this blog is still being worked on--
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