An Ongoing Problem
In 2019 I created a artwork titled 'The Space I Inhabit', a multipart artwork documenting a series walks I made along a predefined route over a period of three months, and intention was to record and collect the nitrous oxide canisters found littering local paths and roads. Sadly, the problem continues in 2021 and in the middle of Lockdown 3.
Unsustainable
"It takes a lot to produce a container that can safely hold highly pressurised gas. For this reason, nang bulbs are made from 3mm thick galvanised steel. Notwithstanding the fact that so much steel could go to better use, the smelting process produce heaps of greenhouse gas. According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change's Fourth Assessment Report, one tonne of steel can produce 1.25 to 3.8 tonnes of carbon dioxide. With nangs being the 7th most popular drug in the world, a lot of CO2 is pretty needlessly going into the atmosphere."
(Nichols, 2017)
References
Nichols, S. (2017), Your Nang Habit Is Trashing the Earth, www.vice.com
In 1799 Humphrey Davy inhaled nitrous oxide and nicknamed it 'laughing gas'.
www.open.edu, 2017
