EARTHKEEPING NEWS A NEWSLETTER OF THE NORTH AMERICAN COALITION FOR CHRISTIANITY AND ECOLOGY Volume Ten, Number Four May/June 2001 How many trees does it take to make a paper tree? THE JUNK MAIL TREE — A MONUMENT TO INDULGENCE by Wayne Sumstine An entire generation of American baby boomers is now beginning to approach the age of retirement, but we as a society have yet to erect a single monument to commemorate their unequaled contribution to the degradation of the planet. It was little more than a decade ago that Pope John Paul II issued encyclicals to all of the bishops of the Catholic church on the two great evils afoot in the world: atheistic communism, and the rampant, immoral materialism ingrained in the fabric of America. Effectively usurping church and government alike, the one great evil that remains now bores into art. Art, the prayerful spirit of life itself! The burden is now upon artists to recognize, remember and pass on the lessons we've learned from a generation of consumers and their corporate providers whose exploitation of limited resources has been unprecedented in all of history, and whose feats of indulgence are in fact impossible for any generation to repeat. The Junk Mail Tree is a life-size sculpture of a tree constructed from junk mail that is collected in the local community. Information is made available at exhibition sites, outlining the costs of exploitation that are absent from prices set in the marketplace, and also information on how many trees it takes to make one tree out of paper. The first Junk Mail Tree was made in Tucson, AZ. It is 12 ft high with a diameter of 9 ft. It may be shipped for exhibition. However Junk Mail Trees can be constructed on location. Dozens of environmental and civic groups have participated in the project. So far, no churches. For more information write Wayne Sumstine (the artist), 1960 N. Lindenwood Ct., Tucson, AZ 85712, USA; <orblink@yahoo.com> Home     Table of Contents