Whenever I donate blood…
by Karen Topakian
Whenever I donate blood, I am reminded of how well my body was designed as a highly functioning ecosystem. My blood circulates in a never-ending loop, constantly regenerating itself.
The other day while lying on my comfy cot at the blood bank, I decided to watch my friend Annie Leonard’s online video, The Story of Stuff. This 20-minute piece explains what happens to the stuff we buy, where it comes from, who makes it and where it goes when we are finished with it. And trust me we don’t keep it around for very long. We throw most of it away. The images are simple, black stick figure drawings on a white background. But the story is anything but simplistic.
We, you and me and everyone else, who consumes products, participate in a system that is the antithesis of our bodies. Rarely is it a never-ending loop, unless we recycle. Mostly it’s linear. All of our stuff starts out as raw materials, often under ground, sometimes above. Mostly in someone else’s country, manufactured by others at a very low cost and sold to us cheaply. We buy it, and buy it, and buy it. Then we throw it away, and throw it away, and throw it away.
I think whomever or whatever designed our bodies had the right idea. Closed loop systems, circulating systems, are truly the way to go. But that’s not what’s going on in the consumer system. Soon the planet will run out of the natural resources to make stuff for us. Watch the video. Then you’ll see what I’m talking about.
But wait, why is the Agape Foundation that funds nonviolent social change talking about stuff? Because wars are fought over who has the rights to what’s under the ground in other people’s countries. So we can have more stuff. Human rights are violated, people suffer, lives are lost, while their land is destroyed. So we can have more stuff. When the US government deploys our military to “protect our interests abroad,” those interests are often the oil and natural resources that are underground in other people’s countries.
If wars are fought, then young people must serve. And if they serve they just might die or get wounded. Or kill or wound someone else. That’s why we’re talking about stuff.
Here’s one not so small example, coltan. Coltan is the colloquial African name for columbite-tantalite, a metallic ore used to produce the elements niobium and tantalum. Tantalum from coltan is used in consumer electronics products such as cell phones, DVD players, and computers. Export of coltan has been blamed for fuelling war in the Congo. To make matters worse, the coltan mining area is within one of the main ranges of the threatened Eastern Lowland gorilla. Every time we buy one of these new electronic products, more coltan needs to be mined. And who’s mining it? Children under the age of 10.
Now you see why we are talking about stuff? You don’t need me to tell you to recycle and reuse your stuff. Or else donate it to someone who will. Just remember, the well designed ecosystem we call our body has all the answers.