Blood on The Leaves
Blood on the Leaves was created with the goal of showing the effects of “greenwashing” by the media. It contributes to our belief of living a “green life”, but this is not really the case. Since 2017 research has shown a spike in cocaine production and with the ongoing trend in sustainability, this is a complete contradiction. This illicit crop destroys the rainforest which is essential to sustaining our environment. To highlight this phenomena I made a short film showing this paradox.
I developed a self-check, to determine if one is as green as one would like to believe. As our society strives to live greener, the question remains, how green are we willing to be? I devised three statements, to serve as a guideline. If you can agree with all of the following statements you are doing a pretty good job of being green;
- I have cut down my consumption significantly in all areas of life (food waste, what you spend on clothes, water waste, energy waste, cattle industry consumption).
- I contribute to my local and global community to support green-living (Donation, supporting causes, other contributions.)
- I never purchase anything that down the line negatively affects the environment and others.
If you cannot answer yes to all of these statements, a re-evaluation of our values should be considered. The cultivation of coca leaf is a complicated issue as it involves many stakeholders; the government, drug cartels, farmers, the media and even us. The consequences of condoning a greenwashing culture in our commercial consumption, influence our perception of sustainable living.