Litter Disposal

Posted on by Gwendolyn Niles

As I’ve mentioned in a previous post, my family has several pets, and two of those pets, a guinea pig and a rabbit, have a litter box and a cage that need to be emptied on a regular basis. Because of the volume of material (primarily wood shavings) that needs to be disposed of, we do not put it in the trash, instead, we dump it in a kind of compost pile that has formed behind our barn. Our house and barn are surrounded by forest, and behind the barn, at the edge of the treeline, is a steep hill. The compost/litter pile is at that edge. 

Some of the aspects that make it ‘appropriate’ for this purpose are its distance from our house and the fact that it cannot be seen from the house or the road. A non-human aspect of the space is that it is on the edge of the steep drop and the woods. I think if that edge weren’t there, we would not use that spot because it would be like leaving a pile of stuff in the middle of a space. Somehow having the pile at the edge (the margins) of a space feels less disruptive and wrong than having it in the middle of the space. Perhaps this is because having material waste collect somewhere that is not an edge or a margin could be thought of as a waste of space.

Waste sites prompt

Posted on by Ethan Tupelo

The three readings this week are diverse, but all share a common theme of how material waste is pushed to marginal places, spaces that are typically understood as having lower value (in multiple senses of the word).  This can start from where bins are placed, to the larger containers where they are aggregated, town sorting facilities, and eventually outside cities where most humans live.  This week, examine one of these marginal spaces, broadly defined.  This can be a space either on or off campus.  What aspects of this space (human or non-human constructed) seem to make it ‘appropriate’ for waste?  

Readings:

Engler, Mira. “Dumps.” In Designing America’s Waste Landscapes.  Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2004, 75-123.

Calvino, Italo. “Continuous Cities I.” In Invisible Cities. 1st Harvest/HBJ ed. New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1978, 114-6.

Locke, John. “On Property.” In Second Treatise on Government. 285-302

A waste site

Posted on by ff22

Three people, 8 bedrooms, two bathrooms and a weird looking living room. This is the space that I share with two other people. Meanwhile there are “MECH ROOM” and a “storage room”. My roommates and I dump our trash in there. Most of the items in the storage room has no use. There are a few boxes and our luggage which occupy the room.

 

5 rooms out have 8 are locked and no one lives there. It is a total waste. The windows are small. There was enough space for bigger windows to put, but architects have put small and narrow windows. If the windows were bigger, more sun could hit the room. It is good for the winter and lesser heat would be needed. Or sometimes. The walls are useless. It is a waste.

 

There are rooms for 6 people upstairs and one toilet. Having one toilet for six rooms is unsanitary. A room would have been used for installing another toilet.

 

There is a coach in the living room that none of us uses it. And the living for is almost useless. There are two front doors. And I genially don’t know why there are two doors.

 

There are six windows in the living room, only a few inches apart from each other. it could have been only bigger window, not so many. These windows are a total waste of money.

Leaves over the grass

Posted on by tob22

“Waste is matter out of place” – Mary Douglas. Matter out of place is a rather broad definition, as such anything can become waste. When you look outside of hampshire, in yards and lawns, there is no leaves on the ground. They have all been raked up to make the area look pretty. So for most people, leaves are waste. However, this is not what nature believes, in fact the fallen leaves help the grass survive and grow again in the winter. The entire ecosystem is built around this “waste,” and in our attempts to “clean”, we harm natural system built millions of years ago.

Mooo-ving Around

Posted on by Oren

Note: Photo will be uploaded later this week, but this idea struck me when I drove by it on the way home and I had to go with it.

Just around the corner from Hampshire, on S Maple St, there are several small farms along the road (2 of them even have ice cream stands!) These farms are mainly occupied by corn stalks and grazing cows – both of which, under human control and consumption, produce quite a bit of waste. We use only the fruit of the corn stalk, and “throw out” the other parts of the plant. To maintain cows, we have a constant cycle of planting, grazing, shitting, repeat. But that’s also what makes this “waste ecosystem” unique in comparison to cities. The waste produced from the corn stalks and cows is put directly back into the cycle to continue sustaining both – extra plant parts become compost, and manure is used as a rich soil. There is very little leftover waste, if any at all – it can all be pumped right back into the system, and without leaving a mark. Well, almost.

Like I mentioned in class the other day, a huge problem I see with waste management in general is the constant moving around that we do with the waste. It seems to reach up to a dozen locations before reaching its final resting place. Evidently, there is concern for the carbon emissions produced from the transporting of the waste. And unfortunately, even the farms are not safe from playing into this game. The distance that the waste will travel on a farm is not much more than a city block (apparently 1 city block = 1.6 acres, cool). But in that small space, the tractors that are transporting the waste are moving at a fraction of the speed of a regular on-road vehicle, and the oil the tractors run on produce tar-black smoke (most tractors use diesel). So, it appears that the farms are still producing plenty of environmentally damaging waste – but due to its state of matter, the physicality of the waste being produced on farms is not immediately noticeable.

The Merril Kitchen

Posted on by Chance

The Merrill kitchen has a host of waste removal structures, some obvious and some not so obvious. The most waste oriented structure is the black trash can next to the kitchen island and the recycling can by the fire extinguisher. Next is the numerous cleaning supplies that one would normally expect to find in a kitchen, dishwashing soap, paper towels, wipes, a cloth rag hung on one of the ovens, and hand sanitizer and tissue on the window sills. Which I would guess is a preventative measure for Covid/germs, not necessarily physical waste you can see with your eyes. The island houses the oven top which has removable burners to clean underneath and the fan/hood above primary purpose is to suck heat and/or smoke out of the air. Although not conventionally thought of as a cleaning mechanism it operates much in the same way as an air purifier does. Next to the two wall ovens there is a sign on the wall reading “Keeping Your Community Kitchen Clean” and “Make a mess? Clean the mess!” As well as other guidelines that people should be following here. This is notable because people have not been listening to any of the messages on it. The sink has several unwashed pots, silverware, and plates in it. Along with things clearly not being put away with care, instead being left out for somebody else to deal with. On another counter by the entry door people have been piling stuff that seems to be forgotten about. The last time I was using this kitchen was during the beginning of the semester and the fridge then seemed to be a place where food was stored to be eaten. Currently both the freezer and fridge are not a place that seems to be appealing to leave food. The fridge and freezer both stink and the fridge has literal mold growing in it. Both smell more like compost than what they’re supposed to smell like, which is nothing. I think that the leaving of food to the point of rot and willingness to leave the counters littered with cooking objects is because if other people do it then it is ok to do the same, the broken window theory. 

 

Prescott Laundry Room

Posted on by Gwendolyn Niles

In the Prescott laundry room, there are both formal and informal places where waste collects. The formal ones are a trash can and two small recycling bins by the door to the room. There is also a stack of compost buckets, but it looks like those are meant to be taken to individual mods, not used in the laundry room. The informal waste collection place is a cardboard box and a pile of miscellaneous clothing. The cardboard box has a sign on it that says “DON’T LEAVE STUFF BEHIND. THIS AREA IS NOT A FREE PILE!”. I don’t know why the box is there if people aren’t supposed to put stuff in it but it looks like the box and that corner is being used for unwanted things anyways.

The pile of clothes next to the box is a good example of the broken window theory that was brought up during class last week. Because there is a box and a few things in that corner, there might be less hesitation to add unwanted items to the pile. Clearly, the presence of clothes next to the box is more influential than the sign on the box.

With the informal waste collection place, I think the assumption is that other students will be the ones to take the stuff. If people expected it to be taken care of with the rest of the trash, they would just put it there.

Waste and the city prompt

Posted on by Ethan Tupelo

Choose a place on campus or in the immediate region.  Describe how this space is physically structured around waste removal infrastructures, broadly understood.  Try to choose a space that isn’t obviously a waste site, like not a local waste transfer station, but one where we wouldn’t normally think of waste.  Include photos of the space in your description.  

Readings for this week:

Nagle, Robin. Picking up: On the Streets and behind the Trucks with the Sanitation Workers of New York City. 1st ed. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2013. Ch 7-9.

Clapp, Jennifer. “The Distancing of Waste: Overconsumption in a Global Economy.” In Confronting Consumption, edited by Thomas Princen, Michael Maniates, and Ken Conca, 155–76. Cambridge, Mass: MIT Press, 2002.

Rescue something that seems useful

Posted on by ff22

I grew up among germophobic people. My mom doesn’t eat in restaurants unless staying hungry can jeopardize her health. For example, in 2021 after the fall of Kabul, we were evacuated first to Doha and then to Mexico City. In Doha, she ate boiled eggs for five days until her stomach started hurting. In Mexico City the situation got worse we were no longer in a Muslim country. She could not eat boiled eggs and even bread wasn’t a good option. We got some rice and been.

 

It is very difficult for me to go through others’ trash and rescue an object. There are some books and chapters in the hallway of the dancing hall. I put gloves on and wore my mask. I tried to find a book and get it. I could not find a book that was interesting, and I wanted to read it. So, I didn’t pick anything up. A lot of crazy thoughts popped up in my mind when I was going throwing the items. “What if someone has used the bathroom and didn’t hand their hands and touch the books, beside me who else was here and touched these books, how do I know they didn’t have covid and …” these were my thoughts during the failed rescue process.

 

Most of the items were textbooks. I assume they were left there by the students. They don’t need them anymore that is why the books were treated as waste. No, I don’t think it could be treated otherwise. Usually, when people don’t need some items they leave them outside, thinking that someone else could use them in their favor.

 

Next, I went to check the dumpster. It was disastrous. People had left their trash out, there were bags of trash. The smell was unbearable. I didn’t touch anything.

Waste and personal responsibility

Posted on by ff22

I have noticed that in America people shop on Amazon a lot. The packages come in big boxes sometimes, boxes which get wasted. When people unbox their purchases, most of the time they don’t recycle them. Some boxes are big and don’t fit into the recycle bin even if they do. I have seen people leave boxes outside. When it ruins, it destroys the boxes and goes to waste.

 

We usually don’t sort our trash out and just dump it into dumpsters. The moment people take their trash out and throw it into the dumpsters it is no longer their responsibility. It becomes someone else responsibility.

 

Before taking this class and discussing waste items I have never thought about being responsible for my trash or items that go to waste. Discussing waste and reading about San Man I realized how difficult it is for people who take the trash out and keep the environment clean.

 

in Kabul, where I lived for 20 years. There is trash everywhere. The entire city is a gigantic dumpster. The municipality tried to get people to take their trash out properly, but people never listen to them “our city is our home, keeping our city clean, means keeping our home clean.” It is their slogan. But people leave their crash on the street all the all.  Eating food and throwing trash out of a car window is a usual thing that some people do.

 

I believe taking care of my crash is my responsibility until I take it out. Everyone should take their trash out properly. Seal the bags, and they should be left in front of the dumpster. Leaving broken glasses could be very dangerous for those taking the trash out. I don’t know whose responsibility it becomes when we take the trash out. But their job is very important. If people don’t do this hard job, the city will look ugly and smell horrible. And that can the source of many diseases.