The Emperors New Clothes
Facing difficult truths
Dear readers, friends and followers,
I’m going to have to dive straight in here (hope you’re well, obvs, but I need to write this stuff out of my system, pronto). Last time I wrote, I stated publicly that I wasn’t going to use plastic any more in my creative practice or my stationery business and I got this message out across all my varied platforms. My stationery business - public record - has been in near-constant hibernation since March 2020, but the majority of the weddings I have worked on have required things.I.just.can.not.do.any.more1!
I wish I was here to report a huge groundswell of support, but I’m realistic and pragmatic enough to know that my reach is small - thanks, though, to the few readers who did reach out! But something is happening, albeit quietly… messages are coming through, getting louder, the frequency is increasing and whether that be from the universe or in my imagination I have never felt more certain.
A notification caught my eye this morning and I clicked though - before I had my coffee! A short clip on from Charles Eisenstein appeared: The Most Disturbing Thing Is No One Is Disturbed. Here, Charles, who has recently launched The Sanity Project, is discussing the familiar H.C.Andersen fairy tale '“The Emperor’s New Clothes”. I grew up with Andersen fairy tales, of course, being half Danish. And, in case you didn’t realise, they are dark, dark reading matter, far, far too dark for small people when you really stop and think about it. I have numerous collections of these stories, some retold and abridged (easier to digest that way). But I’m still haunted by the story of the little girl with the red shoes who danced until her feet were bloodied stumps. Anyway, I digress. The Emperor’s New Clothes.
“It’s where the money is” said my friend in the wedding industry when I told her of my decision to eschew plastic. Times are hard, and for me, in some sense this is not an easy decision to take. I understood what she meant. But in another sense, this was the easiest decision to make and has lifted a weight off my shoulders. By saying this out loud in public I have given myself permission to say no when asked to create something which doesn’t align with my deepest values. And this sounds simple, doesn’t it? Shouldn’t it be easy to say no to things that don’t sit well and align with everything you believe in?
Well, what if everyone else is doing it? And all your customers are asking for it? And, maybe, you could do something like some of the other companies do, you know, the environmentally friendly ones? You could give a % to a tree planting scheme or a carbon offsetting charity, and that would make it OK wouldn’t it? Surely if you do something good in return for having to do the bad thing you’re not very comfortable with, it’ll all be OK? Well, um, no. Plastic isn’t going anywhere, and this is not the time or place to go into carbon “offsetting” but that certainly seems like a logical fallacy too. Just like The Emperor’s New Clothes.
The story, written by Hans Christian Andersen, is based on the German translation of a medieval Spanish cautionary tale - and earlier versions of the same story exist, tracing back to at least 1052. The German translation is titled "So ist der Lauf der Welt" ("That's the way of the world").2 Just me, on my own, giving up plastic in my creative practice is nothing. Just like the child who said “but he’s not wearing any clothes!” was just one tiny voice in the masses - but the child’s voice was heard, picked up and amplified by the crowd, exposing the Emperor’s vanity for what it was - arrogance and superiority, underpinned by the fear that - perhaps, just perhaps - there is nothing there?
"Perhaps the truth of 'The Emperor's New Clothes' is not that the child's truth is mercifully free of adult corruption, but that it recognizes the terrifying possibility that whatever words we may use to clothe our fears, the fabric cannot protect us from them."3
All the plastic that has ever been produced is still in the world, and will be unless it is burned. Plastic does not degrade fully, ever. It breaks down, yes, into ever smaller pieces, but it never goes away:
Only 9% of that waste plastic is recycled and 12% is incinerated. The remaining 79% ends up in landfills or in the environment, where they will stay forever in one form or another, as plastic does not decompose.4
And yet, we don’t seem to see it? I don’t see it around here - I mean, of course I do, I see litter, but then the streets get cleaned and the bins get emptied and the nice people pick up all the litter and put it in bags and then it goes - where? Does it go here? It scares me and I am frightened the world is going to drown in this stuff. But I do have a choice, and I’m aiming for optimism, based on acting honestly and taking responsibility for what I’m doing, not greenwashing. I can’t avoid all the plastic packaging, I’m not a saint, and I’m only one person. But will you join me?
I’ll go back to nature next time I write, I promise!
With love and thanks for reading, Ling x
PS: USEFUL INFORMATION
Do you fancy learning a plastic free craft? Well after all that, I had to ask! If you would like to learn the art of paper flower making, my Paper Flower Evening Classes start on 5th October at Studio 3, Wood Street, Hoylake. All tools and materials are provided (see paper goody box below). We take a week off for half term and start back on 2nd November. Last few spaces remaining! You pay a deposit of £60 when you book and £13 per class thereafter. If it’s not your thing but you know someone who would love it, please share! You can book here.
For example: hot glue sticks, double sided sticky tape, laminating plastic, digital foil, vinyl
Naomi Wood of Kansas State University as quoted here
Fab article. I am with you. I was crying into my cereal this morning, shaking my head in utter despair, rage and disgust at Rishi Sunak’s latest abandonment of his commitment to our net zero future. 😩😩😩