In this week’s waste tracking image, I took a picture from my family’s house again. The main things I see are playa bowl containers and small paper and cardboard items. My household consists of five women, and I feel that we use a lot of paper towels when being in the kitchen. I think many […]
A recurring theme in our readings this week was the idea that waste serves as a reflection of modern society. Scanlan uses garbage as a metaphor for modernity, which I find interesting because modernization and the rise of capitalism inevitably produce waste as a byproduct. It’s interesting to consider what society deems productive or unproductive.
Nothing Is Ever Truly Gone Read More »
Many times, while I attempt to conceptualize waste, I limit my understanding to throwing away the parts no longer useful to me anymore, whether it’s a food item that’s expired or the useless packaging it’s come in. However, I’ve come to continually realize that waste should be evaluated from more than one angle, as sometimes
Attempting to Conceptuialize ‘pre-emptive’ & ‘Reactive’ waste Read More »
Landfills and waste sites reflect societal perceptions of waste and cleanliness. Historically, in states like Massachusetts, landfills are placed in low-cost, low-valued areas. While this is cost-efficient, it often overlooks environmental and health concerns for nearby communities. Additionally, landfills are sometimes located near bodies of water and wetlands, increasing the risk of water contamination. A
How Landfills Reflect Social Hierarchies Read More »
I found this week’s discussions on landfills to be very interesting overall. In particular, before this week, I was not aware of the concept of a “sanitary landfill,” and I always tended to assume that there was not such a thing as landfills that are designed with environmental concerns in mind. As we discussed in
Personal Reflection on Landfills Read More »
I think that there is a fascinating discussion around the question of where waste is ‘supposed’ to be in relation to this week’s readings, particularly in relation to the social contract often formed by people and governments. The first thing I find fascinating is how long it took for people to not only become upset
Where waste is ‘supposed’ to be Read More »
This week I took a picture of my family‘s trashcan since I’ve been home for spring break. Initially, looking at the photo one can see that this is a larger trashcan, and most of the items inside that I could see have plastic parts. I also see multiple different packaging items that have been thrown
With the past week’s readings, I thought that it was a very interesting perspective to explore with waste workers. Though there were many differences between the workers in New York versus the pedal people, they share a similar role and job, where they are collecting waste and maintaining a clean community. Despite their differences in
Reflection on Waste workers and safety Read More »
Waste workers often perform a job most people take for granted. Every day, they go through the enormous volumes of trash, recyclables, and discarded material society produces, ensuring our spaces are clean and habitable. Although they are an essential part of our infrastructure, they are largely underappreciated and exposed to huge health and safety risks.
Personal Reflection on Waste Workers. Read More »
Looking at the amount of waste in the contemporary world, it’s striking how disposable everything has become—food, clothing, electronics and many more. In fact, nowadays, it has become very easy to just throw something you don’t want anymore. Waste seems to be the product of a convenience- and profit-based culture where planned obsolescence is the
The High Cost of Convenience: Waste, Repair, and Responsibility Read More »