“Petroleum Hive”
Mayah 3-14-2011
The white candles were cheap, bought at a discount store, and burned inefficiently, leaving rings of remaining wax after the wicks had burned down. I peeled off the aluminum casings and removed the metal wick holders for recycling. The wax rings are glued on top of colored paper, and then onto black art paper over re-used cardboard.
Paraffin is derived from petroleum, a non-renewable resource. Unlike beeswax candles, these tea lights add petrochemical pollution to the air when burned. This work reminds me of my own contribution to pollution and my own complicity in utilizing petroleum products of all kinds in my daily life—gasoline, plastics, vinyl being the ones that come first to mind.
It’s appalling and amazing how many products in our daily lives are made from petroleum; here’s a partial list of items I use chosen from 144 items found on the webpage http://www.ranken-energy.com/Products%20from%20Petroleum.htm
(The 144 is itself a partial listing of 6,000 items made from petroleum): balloons, CDs, DVDs, toothpaste, toilet seats, luggage, trash bags, house paint, shampoo, umbrellas, cameras, computers, refrigerators, combs, clothing, tires, eye glasses, tents, band aids, drinking cups, paint brushes, art paint, crayons, transparent tape, telephones, etc.
Other items I don’t use (or use “green” versions of without petrochemicals) that are very common: detergent, hair dye, perfume, food preservatives, artificial coloring and flavoring, fertilizers, insecticides, herbicides, hand lotion, soap, water pipes, hair dye, etc.
“One 42-gallon barrel of oil creates 19.4 gallons of gasoline. The rest (over half) is used to make things like: (listed on the website)...Americans consume petroleum products at a rate of three-and-a-half gallons of oil and more than 250 cubic feet of natural gas per day each! But, as shown here petroleum is not just used for fuel.”
http://www.ranken-energy.com/Products%20from%20Petroleum.htm