saving the planet a little for Earth Day
- 8 hours ago
- 3 min read
what can we do, me and you?
Today is Earth Day—a little calendrical reminder that every day is Earth Day, whether we honor it or not.
"The climate movement has lost its momentum, spinning out of the news cycle somewhere between pandemic and war, but its urgency didn't diminish alongside our attention. The planet is still burning, and if you sweep a fire under the rug, you’re only feeding the fire a rug.
With political and corporate agendas diverting awareness and investments from sustainable climate solutions, individual civic action becomes the key lever. While the world's richest man is aiming his rockets at Mars, shooting for an Earth-backup—an illusion at best, a dangerously distractive delusion more likely—we, the people, must fight to save this here planet by taking a step back, flexing our ethical conscience, and moderating consumption. Poor Mars, if we can't even defend our home world against humanity's invasiveness.
We're at a crossroads, and I believe that humanity knows no other place. We live here—at the crossroads between clingy traditions and greedy ambitions—and the time to act is now, nower, nowest, as always, but now more than ever. The crossroads is getting louder and busier, more prone to accidents and fatal, planetary consequences."
—an excerpt from my essay Climate Climax, which you can find in the content section below
This news segment is picking up some pieces from the latest crash site at the intersection of art, academia, science, and society, and drives them home in time for Earth Day.
AI growth: malignant or benign?
Hindsight has always been on our side while foresight makes rather rare appearances. By the time we catch on to our eco sins—oil, plastic, younameit—we can do little more than repent. AI is merely our latest gamble on progress: vast potential, huge risk. And while we're betting on maybes, the planet has to foot the bill: data centers that feast on energy all-you-can-eat-style, and eroding democracies that tilt to the right, burying scientific facts under muddy AI slopaganda.
Along those lines, PetaPixel just published an essay co-authored by Boris Eldagsen and me, which should be an interesting read beyond the photographic community, with implications for anybody who consumes images. It's about preventing a malignant cultural shift that some diagnose as inevitable and benign.
if it looks like a flamingo...
If it looks like a flamingo, stands like a flamingo, but misses a flamingo neck, then it probably is AI. Or so they say, or so they thought. But this flamingone actually passed the duck test and turned out to be a real bird. And while the aforementioned cultural carousel around photography and hyper-realistic AI imagery spins on with all bolts loose, I feel grounded when I see FLAMINGONE fulfill an important conservational mission alongside other incredible-but-real photographs as part of the Nikon Comedy Wildlife Exhibition, currently on display at Natuurmuseum Braabant in the Netherlands.
don't buy, but if you do, buy this
10 % off everything until Sunday
Greenwashing is a popular corporate pastime on Earth Day. Of course, the unwashed truth is that less consumption is even better than ethical consumption. So, if you don't need a new thing, don't get one today. But if you do, consider stopping by my store to celebrate in style with the iconic creature that beat the machine.
FLAMINGONE merch stands for transparency, traceability, and circularity, using certified organic materials, printed with renewable energy and water-based inks, shipping in plastic-free packaging, and designed to be remade into new products later on.
Check out the new designs, and take this code with you for 10 % off until Sunday: EARTH10
Here are some photos people shared of FLAMINGONE out there in the world:
And if you need something for your wall, my prints are carbon-neutral from production to shipping, delivered in sustainable packaging. Same discount code (EARTH10), and here's some inspiration fitting the occasion:
Earth Day content
So long,
Miles
