Pollution on a Stick - April 4, 2008

I was recently in a presentation with an outdoor media company who showed us all the latest and greatest when it comes to outdoor advertising. I think outdoor is one of the coolest mediums, because you aren't restricted by anything expect wind shear. One of my favorite places to check out some of the savviest billboards is at Billboardom.

After the presentation I was sick to my stomach because I could only think about how all of the vinyl used to make the billboards is thrown away. It's simply a major waste. I asked the presenter what happened to the vinyl, and he gave me an interesting answer I didn't expect. Basically, three things can happen to the vinyl. One, it gets trashed. Two, artists use it to make stuff. Three, it goes to Africa and South America to use as tents for people without homes.

He then proceeded to tell me that there are literally hundreds of old vinyl billboards that get sent to these places, and shantytowns will pop up using the billboard supplies. I tried to find some pictures of this, but I was only able to get a few. This one is from Wesolson on Flickr.