At the same time I decide to use a canvas shopping bag in Helsinki, ten people who just moved to New York, use two plastic bags for every five items they purchase (in our local shop bags are reinforced with bags). The approach Heather Davis offers (in The Queer Futurity of Plastic, 2016) is the only way forward. We have to learn to digest plastic or surrender our environment to creatures that can. People who repair sneakers will be our best guides in developing futuristic queer-plastic-knowhow. Recycling is a fashion (not a praxis), a way to stand out or start conversations… Nothing more. Using pallets to build furniture is crazy. The most sustainable life-style is to have no-life-style. The amount of free stuff on craigslist is incredible.
Concerning scales: A lot of things that don’t make sense in Helsinki, make sense in New York City. Like wireless headphones and smartwatches (many people I meet here have either or). In Helsinki seeing wireless headphones is rare, they are a luxury product. Their wirelessness does not add value. In NYC removing the 20 second hassle of opening a headphone cord knot, ads just enough value to justify the purchase. The same applies to smartwatches (they provide information on the current time, social relations and navigation).
People seem to play music all the time (it’s the only personal space they can afford).
Stonewall: The birth of gay power by Sherry Wolf. A very interesting text looking at the violent history of LGBT+ movement in US (the act of “coming out” on the street is political).