June 15, 2020

by drplasticpicker

It’s funny how life works out. I was finding my thought processes getting sillier and sillier. I had finished my third flip flop trash art piece, and it made me laugh. I used an old blood pressure cuff and some vaping pens, and made a pretty large trash art piece called ‘Hypertensive Man.” I was even singing this catchy diddy I made up when I was hot-glue gunning him together. Mr. Plastic Picker and the kids laughed when I showed them. Then yesterday morning I found so many flip-flops at the beach and thought – do I really bring these all home and make more trash art people? I didn’t have enough room in my bag so I threw in the bin but did bring home 14 aluminum cans to recycle as they are the high-yield salvagable https://drplasticpicker.com/aluminum-cans-the-high-yield-salvagable/. At some point you have to make the decision of where you spend your efforts. The aluminum cans yes. More flip flops for trash art, maybe not.

And then Mr. Plastic Picker bought the movie above “2040” which I had seen advertised on Instagram. And I also had on my to-read list “Drawdown The Most Comprehensive Plan Ever Proposed to Reverse Global Warming” edited by Paul Hawken. I had borrowed it several months ago and had not really read it, and wanted to return it to my friend and Co-Leader for our Girl Scout Troop today. I finally had a chance to read it and then we watched 2040 during movie night. In fact much of “2040” is based on the more comprehensive “Drawdown” and Paul Hawken is featured in the movie. Both are excellent and in short my world is rocked. I felt I was very well read regarding the environment, but really reading the impact of different measures helps me focus on again the high-yield and greater impactful part of environmental advocacy. I will still pick plastic and make trash art, but these two works reinforce what I had been focused on previously.

These are the relevant powerful sections I want to keep as reminders. I am really using this post as a set of environmental notes and reminders for myself, to refocus this blog and my environmental work. This blog had always been about my panic regarding ocean plastic and my gut-wrenching fear about climate change. What I found powerful is that my place as a pediatrician in the world, a mother, a Girl-Scout leader, and a random crazy pediatrician that picks up plastic and posts on Instagram/Facebook – enables me to help the world avert climatic disaster.

I will still make the occassional trash art series, but I have been reaffirmed to keep at what is the most impactful. Below are my notes and direct quotes from Drawdown. The whole point of Drawdown is to list the actions that the world can take, and made a evidence-based judgement at how impactful they are in reversing global warming. This is a nonmonetized blog so I think they are going to be okay with this blogpost. Here is their website https://www.drawdown.org/ and I’ve signed up for their email list as well.

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