Visual pollution

I came across an interesting concept recently: visual pollution. A group known as Scenic America talks about it this way:

Throughout the country, our most cherished scenic resources and hometown assets are being obscured by a blizzard of monstrous billboards, badly sited telecommunications towers, a tangle of overhead lines, and a hodgepodge of visual clutter. Open space is being lost. Our natural and cultural heritage is being buried under unconstrained development and poorly designed transportation systems.
America's beauty and community character are being obliterated by a steel curtain of visual spam.

For the audio/visual learners among us, check out NY Times video on the topic.

You might be asking yourself (and rightfully so), what is this doing on a blog about sustainability? I think this is exactly the place for it. To me, visual pollution is one of the most poignant representations of America's obsession with disposable and replaceable junk. We are in the throws of a throw-away culture. While progress is human nature, we should be creating a legacy that will last generations, instead of disposing of each generations' identities.

"But what can we do?" one faithful and diligent reader asks. I suggest creating change with your dollars. Support businesses and neighborhoods that a committed to creating beautiful environments. Fast food chains and proprietors of junk (read: Wal-Mart) are, in my humble opinion, most guilty of visual pollution. Avoid them. I do.