Something I regularly dispose of is drink bottles, and while they go into the recycling when I get rid of them, it is possible they do not all make it to recycling facilities. If they were to be found in the future, they would most likely be able to assume that the bottle is some form of drinking vessel. If found on its own, they might make the assumption that it was a form of traveling with liquids, which would not be incorrect, but if it were to be found with other waste objects, maybe even with other bottles, they would likely make the assumption it was not something that we cared to hold on to. If they drew the conclusion that these were bottles of liquid being sold, they might make the incorrect assumption that water was a rare and hard to find resource, since it was being distributed to people in what would appear to be rationed amounts. From there they might assume that necessary resources might have been difficult to obtain, especially if they find other food packaging, which would also give the impression of rationed items.
Author Archives: Anais Grace
Circular Economy
Something we do not see often in circular economies is electronics. Of course, we have donated electronics, or hand me downs from friends and family, and these tend to be older electronics, that do not work as effectively as when they were first bought. But when certain parts of electronics stop working, the other parts could still be working just fine. Even just parts like the outer shell, or screens, could be used again instead of having to make new ones. A lot of things, even outside of electronics, can be stripped for parts so that the functional parts of items can be used to make something new. A lot of things end up being thrown out even though they still have useful aspects of them, and being able to reuse those aspects could reduce a lot of waste and creation of new items.
Disruption in Bulk Trash
Although this example does not have to do with forms of protest or resistance, something that comes to mind is the time of year when large trash is picked up, like furniture and other things that are difficult to transport and dispose of normally. During this time of year, there is a common agreeance that you can go into someone else’s property in order to look through this trash and see what you want. During any other time of year, looking through someone else’s trash is frowned upon, and could result in the property owners being upset, or even calling the police. During the large trash pick up, you often see people driving around in their cars or trucks, stopping outside people’s houses, and digging through the piles of trash. This time of year is when things are the most reused since things that were being thrown out get to have a new chance at life in a new home, reducing the amount these people need to buy, and showing a level of community and care that is not normally present during the rest of the year.
Pollution in Online Shopping
Something I do regularly that produces waste and pollution is online shopping. Although most people can agree that it is a convenient service, we also tend to forget that this is a massive producer of pollution. Everything from the multiple forms of transportation to the packaging it comes in produces pollution and waste that while we all know exists, we do not talk about as much as we could. If regulations were put in place that banned pollution from this, I do not think the service would entirely disappear, but rather it might be delayed while the companies adapted to the new rules. Many companies are already making their packaging more sustainable, while others are making their packaging and practices look better for the environment without making proper or significant changes. As for the transportation of products, the easiest way to find a solution would be to make all transportation powered by electricity, but even that might lead to some pollution, so finding a pollution-free mode of transportation might pose a threat to many businesses.
Paper Plates
A disposable item many of us interact with regularly is paper plates. Whenever we are in a setting where we are eating meals but do not want a lot of cleanup, we use paper plates and disposable cutlery. These items obviously are meant to be temporary substitutes for their real counterparts, and what separates them is the ability to clean and reuse them. If you try to clean a paper plate, it will fall apart, so any messes that end up on the plate can not be cleaned off. This is what makes these paper plates disposable. Any food residue that ends up on them can not be cleaned off, so eventually they will mold, or attract insects, and they might cause a health risk if they were reused on a different day. The item itself is made from paper, a material that is not known to be particularly durable, and although paper can be composted or recycled, most of these paper plates would probably end up in the trash and taken to the dump. Especially in larger party settings, in which paper plates are used the most, it often becomes a hassle to separate trash and keep track of how people are disposing of things, so having a single place to dispose of things is often easier for cleanup.
Out of Place, Filthy, Resource
I have a small collection of sticks in my room, which when outside wouldn’t be considered waste but since I have brought them inside, they have become out of place, and therefore waste. I keep them around because I tend to think that I would use them for something at some point, which makes them a potential resource. Sticks are also, in a way, filth. They were brought from outside and weren’t really cleaned off at all, so they have dirt and other debris on them. People will see these sticks and think of them as filthy, because of the debris they might leave on my floor that I have to clean up, which makes them the most like waste, since they are creating more waste and filth in the area they occupy. Out of all of these conceptualizations, they are the most out of place. When outside, they have the chance to complete their life, from falling from their tree to decomposing into the ground, but by bringing them inside, with no connection to the dirt or their lost trees outside, they don’t get to have that chance. Instead, they’ll dry out and stay there for as long as I want them.
The Woods as a Form of Waste Separation
The woods on campus are not something most people would think of when they think of waste, but when thinking about what the trail is called, a “nature trail”, you start to realize that it’s related to waste separation more than you might have originally thought. Nature trails are meant to be a way of allowing people to separate themselves from technology, buildings, and generally any visible human influences on the world. This can be thought of as a form of waste separation, although instead of removing the waste from the view of people, the people are being removed from the waste. In this case, the waste is not really being taken care of, since this form of waste separation is just ignoring the issues at hand in favor of looking at the parts of the world that do not look like they are fully affected. This, unfortunately, leads to waste being added to these areas since people will throw empty bottles and food wrappers on the ground deciding that it does not matter since they will never see it again.
Disposal of Difficult Waste
Every year or so my family tends to have accumulated a collection of waste that can not be thrown out in the normal trash and recycling bins. Things like old paint cans, electronics, scrap wood, and small furniture items are a bit difficult to dispose of, and while it is easy to get rid of furniture during bulk trash pick up month, the other things need to be taken to our local transfer station, which is luckily only a few minutes from my house. Using the transfer station puts a little more responsibility on us as we need to make sure what we’re bringing there is accepted, and we need to make sure what we are bringing is separated as needed before we get there. In addition, it should also be light/small enough that machinery isn’t needed in order to put it in the bins (unless the workers are aware and prepared for what you’re bringing). Using the past summer as an example, I had to bring two boxes of old paint cans, three broken computers, and a box of scrap wood to the station. Before leaving, I made sure the items were organized in my car so that it would be quick and easy to dispose of them, and I also removed staples and nails from the wood in case metal and wood needed to be separated. When I got there, it was my responsibility to put the waste into the correct locations. The waste was my responsibility up until I left the facility, and from there, it became the responsibility of the waste workers to transport and process the waste. While I don’t know a lot about how waste is processed in waste facilities, I imagine the wood is turned into woodchips, mulch, or shavings in order to give it another use, and metal is salvaged and melted down.
Container From Hall Trash
I found this container in the bathroom trash of my hallway, it was a bit more towards the top on the side, so I did not have to do a lot of digging in order to find it and get it out. I am almost certain it was my friend who threw it out since we are the only two people living in our hall, which helped me feel better about taking it out of the trash and washing it for future use. I chose this object because a solid, closable container can be very useful, and I am currently using it to store loose hardware parts like nuts, washers, and screws. I think if I had found it in a more public trash container I would not have taken it out unless I was able to either see all of the contents inside or wash my hands immediatly after, since I don’t feel great about unknown germs. I do have an example of me going through a public trash bin from the past week, however, because at some point in the middle of the night my friend called me to tell me a mouse was trapped in the trash (the sides were too high to jump over and too smooth to climb), so I went to where they were, tipped the trash bin over, and helped them empty it so the mouse could get out. I felt ok going through this trash because there were only three things in it, all of which were mostly empty food containers. I also had the motivation of helping a friend feel better, which overpowered my unease of going through a trash bin.
Shit
We see shit as filthy and unsanitary, and in the past, the disposal of it was used as a way to show class status and create a separation between the classes. Having a clean and sanitary home made you better than those who didn’t, and cleanliness was seen as being closer to God. In the present, if we see an area of a town with visible waste it would often be attributed to people not having a lot of money. People would then go on to think of it as the “bad” part of town, and it would then be associated with crime, and in turn, people of color and marginalized groups. This goes back to what we read in Gerling’s writing, where it discusses how people of higher class status and social status were the first to have access to sanitation resources like plumbing, sewage, toilets, etc, which made the wealthier areas of towns and cities cleaner, and seen as better.