Above you see what is left of a tanker truck that was parked in the industrial area of Jasper, when the forest fire swept through last summer. I have always been surprised to see such things, which one would assume, wouldn’t have caught fire and burned. I understand a fire sweeping through a dry forest, with pine needles on small branches, with the ground covered with tinder of needles and twigs, but it is hard to imagine what it would take to start a big metal truck ablaze. The fire certainly did a number on this truck.
Almost daily, the news features some devastating natural disaster or war, and shows the ruins of hundreds of destroyed vehicles, and destroyed houses and buildings. I always find myself wondering what happens to those tons and tons of things no longer useable or wanted. If it is in the way, I guess it is just hauled away somewhere to get rid of it.
On the subject of waste, I recently saw a news report about all of the fast-fashion clothing, much of it brand new, that never sold. It is shipped to Chile’s Atacama desert, where it is just dumped. The clothing dump is now so huge, it can be seen on satellite photos. There clothing just sits, piling up as more and more unwanted clothing is added to it daily.
The news story told of a small local organization, that is starting to pick through all of the new clothing there and will send it to people who might want it, for just the price of the shipping: New, Brand-Name jeans, just for the shipping cost. It is good that at least a minuscule amount of waste is being recycled, but it is just a tiny drop in the bucket compared to the truckload after truckload that is dumped there every day.
View my paintings at: davidmarchant2.ca
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