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Green through the Ages Infographic

Ah, the color green. So many meanings. Many famous items and places in history and fiction revolve around the color green, so I can certainly understand the creator’s desire to make an infographic that examines this color in detail. The purpose of this graphic is to show how green has shaped our lives throughout history, and then tie that into recycling. The interesting thing about the facts in this graphic is that, apparently, the first recycling efforts happened in 400 B.C. I bet you were not aware of that one?

Several hundred years after that a fellow by the name of John Heywood suggested that the moon was made out of cheese, green cheese to be exact. And the people in that day actually believed him. A hodgepodge of other facts are also displayed in the graphic, such as the fact that 76% of Americans call themselves environmentalists according to a 1990 poll. Here’s another statistic relevant to today: in 1979, Alan Freeman constructed the first solar powered car. These days, electric cars like Tesla and the Chevy Volt are all the rage, so it’s interesting to see that 30 years ago, Americans were briefly enamored by the concept of a solar car. It’s too bad it never got off the ground.

At the bottom of the graphic, San Diego State plugs its environmental efforts and then reminds people of its third annual green event (which happened at the end of August), Blue is the New Green: Water in the Built Environment.

Design: A-

This graphic does everything that a graphic should: it catches your eye right away and draws you in. The chronological order of events is displayed in a way that flows, so the graphic is well-done. This is a very pleasant graphic to look at.

Content: C+

This graphic has some potential theme issues, meaning, it’s unclear what the specific theme of the graphic is. Is it about the color green? Is it about the environment? With a graphic title like “Green through the ages,” someone who sees the graphic at first glance might not have any idea. That’s a potential problem, and not one that the creator of this graphic should take lightly. But the problem runs deeper. The green timeline stops after 1990. Why? 1990 was 20 years ago. Surely the history of green, especially as it relates to the environment, had some events occur over the past 20 years of note. Didn’t it?

Overall, a nice effort on this graphic.

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The Human Tongue Infographic

The human tongue is perhaps the most interesting body part, right after the femur that is. This graphic displays some of the most zany statistics about not only the human tongue, but the animal tongue as well. What kind of animals? How about the whale? The tongue of a whale weighs a measly 5,400 pounds and is the size of an elephant. That’s really a very scary thought when you think about it. To think that every blue whale out there has an elephant in its mouth? Golly! Ok, enough Leave it to Beaver moments. Let’s get down to business–tongue business.

This graphic is filled with useful tidbits, such as the fact that the idiom “the cat got your tongue” has roots in ancient Assyria. Apparently, in those golden days, conquered soldiers and criminals had their tongues taken out as punishment and fed to the king’s cat. I’m sure all two people who actually use the expression, “cat got your tongue” will be pleased to know that. Then again, they probably already did.

Here’s another gem in the graphic. A series of intense scientific tests on identical twins have shown that the ability to roll one’s tongue into a tube shape is not a genetic trait. Sibling rivalry over tongue matters can now be elevated.

Infographics Scorecard

Design: A

This graphic is one of the most well-designed we’ve ever had on this site. The designer was dealt a difficult set of cards; he was given a topic that’s not necessarily the most interesting to draw and told to make an entire graphic out of it. And the designer delivered, so he should be commended for that. I do have one knock on the design (he was given an A, so the knock isn’t too harsh, but it’s there.) That knock is simply that creative things weren’t done with the tongues. There could have a been a depiction of the tongues dancing to demonstrate their ability to help with singing. Or perhaps, to demonstrate how long the longest tongue in history is, the illustrator could have made a tongue wrap around the entire graphic. So, that’s my one knock. It’s a soft one, but it’s there.

Content: A

I’m awarding an A on the content side as well. What a stupendous set of facts! A tongue, by its nature, is boring. So, it would have been easy for the creator to just say, “Darn. I can only find boring facts. Welp, I suppose I’ll be putting together a boring infographic, as a result.” But the creator did not. He took a potentially boring topic and made it unbelievably entertaining. And that’s commendable.

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How Much Do We Really Recycle: Infographic

As this infographic confirms, we are, for lack of a better phrase, a “throw away” culture. That is, we do ridiculous things like dispose of seven and a half times our body weight each year. As expected, the above infographic makes a compelling case for recycling. It’s filled with tidbits that make you throw your hands up and say, “recycling is best!” That’s assuming you were on the fence of course. Most people know recycling is best; they just don’t do it out of laziness.

Some things about recycling you probably did not know but likely are not surprised by:
–Glass can be recycled over and over without ever losing its purity
–70% less energy is used to manufacture recycled paper
–The energy conserved from recycling one bottle can power a light bulb for one hour
–One recycled can of aluminum contains enough energy to power a Sony TV for three hours

Yes, there can be no argument. A world where more people recycle is the kind of world that most people should want to live in. I do have some issues with the “facts” presented at the bottom of the article though. The graphic claims that certain objects would take several thousand (or in some cases, several million) years to decompose. A Styrofoam cup, for instance, supposedly would not decompose until the year 7,500,000,000 A.D. Really? I have a hard time believing this. If you threw a Styrofoam cup in the woods, you’re telling me it would really take over a billion years for it to erode? I doubt that. What would happen in reality is that maggots and ants would eventually get on it, and it would begin to break down. When you combine the effects of animals with other elements of nature, such as rain and acid rain, the abstract theory that it would take billions of years for the cup to break down becomes even more implausible.

My basic philosophy is this: I’m all for recycling, but don’t try to scare me with inane claims about how long it takes for objects to decompose in a non-controlled, natural environment.

Infographics Scorecard

Design: B

The design meshes several elements well, and the bottom of the graphic is very aesthetically pleasing due to its use of objects. Certain elements of the graphic are patchy though. The “Total Individual Lifetime Disposal” circle is not necessarily easy to understand at first glance. It bogs down a bit. That portion of the graphic could have been handled better.

Content: B+

The content is well-presented, and for the most part, in an easy-to-understand way. I would have awarded a higher grade, but as I explained earlier, I’m not buying the creator’s argument that it would take thousands and thousands of years for plastic jugs and glass bottles to decompose. The Styrofoam cup theory makes even less sense when you factor in the temperature changes of the planet. Think about how hot the planet will be in 7 billion years.

Overall, this graphic is very well-done but has some room for improvement.

This graphic was provided by the fine folks at recycle.co.uk

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