This marks my first official episode of Waste Watch!
In this series, I’m going to evaluate products based on their packaging. How much of it is recyclable? Can it be reduced or reused? I recently needed an external hard drive, and I was pretty impressed with the minimal packaging at work here.
What do you think? Check it out:
Today I’ve decided I should post a Waste of the Week that’s a bit more positive than the usual idiotic, so here’s a flick from a Target in Sacramento, CA. I’m a fan of minimal and clean design, so this obviously scores immediate points with me:
The trash can gets the “red” designation, which I’m guessing is to mean “NO” to all things not trash, which is most things. What do you really need to throw in the trash while you’re at Target anyway? It’s pretty nice of them to offer a collection station for that area as it is.
Plastic bags have been getting more attention lately, and I still question their recyclability although it has to vary from place to place like all programs do. Here in Philly, “keep it simple stupid” seems to prevail, which encourages all plastics 1-7 to be put in the curbside bin for recycling… although when you call the recycling facilities, the answer you get for plastic bags (and plastic film) is “it clogs the machines”.
In a recent tour to the brand new state-of-the-art recycling center here, that appeared to be the case…I think. I didn’t get a straight answer for the fate of plastic bags, which to me just means that it depends on the economy of recycling them, which isn’t that good. They need to be clean, and any color but black for any effort to be made to recycle them…otherwise they’re landfill bound.
I’m surprised the hole in the top of the plastic bag can isn’t smaller, maybe in the shape of a tilde or something goofy. I had this dark thought of an unsupervised kid jumping in the container, tying ten bags over his head, suffocating and dying. That could be a fun lawsuit for profiting off an unwanted kid…I wouldn’t be surprised if this happened already in some capacity. Sadly, that is a thought in my mind, and possibly in yours.
Moving on, we have commingled recycling and finally a container to recycle your “MP3”. MP3 player, maybe? That one’s a little funny. MP3s don’t really have any value, do they? CDs? Another day. Notice that the hole on this one is really small… they don’t want people digging through there to take them out and get cash for themselves. Target makes money by sending in cell phones, ink cartridges and MP3 players…so this is most likely how they pay off the expense of the other containers…way to go Target! I’m a fan. I feel like this is where business and ethics come together to make a happy medium.
Once businesses start viewing recycling as a commodity instead of an expense, they’ll see that there’s no need to trash everything, and that they’re actually throwing away money while being ignoranuses to the public (need help with this? Hit me up). Here’s to hoping other businesses start copying what Target’s doing…get your heads out of your asses, execs of the world.
Next week, I’ll show yet another method that one ups this process in both effectiveness and public relations, while missing out on the book balancing effect of collecting profitable items (electronics). Guess what company it is before I post it and I’ll send you something.
It’s been a while since I wrote stuff on here, but rest assured I’ve been busy with the right stuff.
First off, I have an article coming out for Grid Magazine in the next few weeks, so I’ll be reposting that here obviously. Super excited about that: my first article and it’s for a magazine I actually like. Does that officially make me a writer? I feel pretty good.
I’ve also been really busy with my other website, crazyaboutcompost.com , so you should go check it out. I just finished a new experiment involving growing basil in a number of different soil types. The results were definitely not quite what I (or anyone I’ve talked to) expected. Here’s the video:
…too much fun.
I should get back in the swing of things within the next week, and I’m doing some traveling so you can be certain I’ll be uploading some waste receptacle photos. Can’t wait!
Till then, keep it trashy!
So strange, I looked outside my window this morning and happened to catch someone throwing an empty water bottle out of their car as they drove by…couldn’t be more perfect for today’s post.
I forget, did I write about plastic bottles before? I can’t remember, but they upset me on a daily basis. It’s an unforgettable item that will continue to plague us, whether in the form of plastic islands larger than Texas in every ocean, in our favorite rivers and streams to swim in, or wedged into every crack and crevice of our environment.
Diedra Krieger is a friend of mine that has been building rather immense structures out of plastic bottles for years now. When I first saw one of them, I didn’t at all think about how nice it was, to be honest. I got really bummed out that there was this ugly item in such a large quantity in front of me…which in itself can be rather beautiful…and I think it’s safe to say that that is her point (But what would I know, I can never hope to “know” an artist’s complete multi-layered approach anyway).
Seeing a giant geodesic dome of these things can invoke some strong emotions, of which you can select whether to be bummed out or rather delighted by it. I can’t say that for most art that I look at (usually just bummed). Pictures just don’t do justice of one her creations, but here’s my favorite shot:
She’s making a monster one of these from June 10th – 12th for Figment 2011, a killer participatory/interactive exhibition on Governor’s Island NY.
While I’m at it, I’d like you to check out another favorite video of mine related to our friend the water bottle. Annie Leonard, as you may know from “The Story of Stuff”, has a series of “The Story Of” videos now. My favorite of hers is definitely (you guessed it): “The Story of Bottled Water”. I love it how she manages to invoke so many harsh emotions on the Youtube comment section, people that just don’t want to acknowledge the reality at all. Anyway, here’s the video:
Does plastic waste tug at your heart strings? Or does it feel that it hasn’t made its way into your daily life yet, so it’s not a priority to confront? All is well and good if you listen to the American Chemistry Council…right. Give them a call and ask some real questions, their responses are humorous to the point of depression: (202) 249-7000
Sometimes I forget how many different ways waste/trash can be perceived. While I have no respect for people that litter, I rarely make mention of it…on a blog about TRASH. I love the often-used excuse “that’s why people are paid to clean it up…job security!” Actually no, prick, it’s not job security and your lame ass needs to learn how to clean up after yourself. When I tell people what I do for a living, they tend to think they can offend me by telling me they litter…they’re right.
Oh yeah- I was writing to let you know about a fellow Philadelphian Andrew Jeffrey Wright who happens to have a trash blog as well… it’s a well-done photo gallery of all the best ways that people utilize this city. Check out his most recent “poles and posts post”:
Hopefully this is the last time I ever see this happen:
What the hell is going on here? I’m riding around in Fishtown and I find this pile casually sitting on the side of the road. People are walking by, taking a good 20 extra feet going around it. Not me. Coming from an infectious waste cleanup background, I can’t begin to tell you how excited I was to find this, now matter how unreal and ignorant.
With the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection code firmly ingrained in my head, I started formulating some questions…what regulation is this scenario satisfying?
Protection from rodents and animals? No. Placed in a leak proof container impervious to moisture? Nope. How about secure from the public? Bags tied off properly? Waste labeled in any way whatsoever? Hell to the no.
Peeking in the bags, they contained nothing but cardboard. Take a look:
That’s right: I don’t see any blood in quantities greater than 20 cc’s (haha), or even a lazily disposed syringe (which don’t belong in there either). This is cardboard, folks. Infectious toothbrush holders? I want to know who is going to pick this up. The City’s garbagemen wouldn’t want to touch this stuff, nor get in trouble for trying to dump this at a waste transfer station.
If this is actually to be disposed as infectious, it’s breaking every rule in the book…so whatever waste vendor is taking this, needs to have their license revoked (if they have one to begin with). Maybe I’m all wrong. I can’t think of a possible situation voiding this building of being completely negligent.
Well, infectious waste bags are extremely rigid to deal with large quantities of liquid waste…I guess it’s nice to have them on hand for when you’re dealing with… INFECTIOUS WASTE. Not empty cardboard boxes. How did you people even obtain these to begin with?
Yes, it’s only trash in a garbage bag that’s colored red and has biohazard symbols on it, I get it. Tyler, stop freaking out. Well, no. If you ever see this in your neighborhood, please contact your appropriate city office, or your state environmental office. While it’s “just” a bag, it’s not just a bag.
I called the DEP about the incident, this should be interesting. Even if for some reason this company is okay with their disposal habit (which they aren’t), I don’t mind being the nosey annoying dude here. Either way, it’s highly entertaining to me and I can’t wait to see how this unfolds. Maybe the company reads my page regularly and I’ll get my ass kicked. Whatever.
UPDATE: DEP says that the company had red bags around and decided to use them as trash bags…is that really all there is to it? Isn’t this odd? If a hospital casually disposed of red bags containing innocent garbage (or recyclables, in this case), they’d get a phone call and receive a huge fine… just sayin’.
In my experience, rest stops always suck when it comes to accommodating recycling…not in Wisconsin! Super old and uninteresting looking waste receptacles bum me out, but whatever.
When the text finally wears off of the containers, I wonder how much compliance will drop since no one will look at the fugly graphics on them. I don’t think trash cans can get uglier than the stone/pebble look, either. Well, maybe. Time to dig deep into the photo archives…
