into sight, into mind
DESCRIPTION
Experimenting with bringing the topic of rubbish into sight and into mind. 75% of waste New Zealanders send to landfill is recyclable or reusable. Could a public dialogue, premised on the idea of collective endeavour as opposed to individual guilt, help improve our waste management? Rubbish disposal is a mostly private activity, which often happens without thought while the discarded item is immediately forgotten – out of sight, out of mind. My project aims to stimulate thought and dialogue about the often invisible world of rubbish, with the ultimate goal of encouraging more responsible management of individual and collective rubbish disposal and production.TRANSCRIPT
into sightintomind
/ Public thinking /
FREE / I hope this issue of Public Thinking helps you to notice the rubbish around you and that this in turn may encourage you to give some extra thought to the way in which you and others deal with rubbish.
When you are done with this publication, please pass it on to someone else or perhaps leave it in the university common room, a doctor’s waiting office or your favourite cafe. We may produce rubbish as individuals, but it will only be as a community that we’ll start to clean it up.
I just despair so try not to think about it because it’s too awful. Once out of sight, tis well out of mind. Which of course is half the problem, or more than half the problem, because we can just throw it out and forget about it.
Age / 31 – 40
gender / male
occupAtion / lecturer & trapeze artIst
Where / NOrthlaNd, WgtN
As an investigation into the often out of sight, out of mind world of the discarded, I embarked on a six month journey of noticing rubbish and questioning the right and the wrong place for it.
Who / me
WhAt / rubbIsh
When / march – NOvember, 2011
Where / WgtN
Why / tO NOtIce
/ 02 – 21 / 01 / Drop
/ 22 – 37 / 02 / Carry
/ 38 – 51 / 03 / Bury
/ 52 – 59 / 04 / Gritty
noticednotice / v / to treat as worthy of recognition or attention.
rubbish / n / material that is considered unimportant or valueless.
Wrong / adj / contrary to what one approves as right.
plAce / n / a particular position, point, or area in space; a location.
/ Oxford English Dictionary, 2003 /
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I just despair so try not to think about it because it’s too awful. Once out of sight, tis well out of mind. Which of course is half the problem, or more than half the problem, because we can just throw it out and forget about it.
Age / 31 – 40
gender / male
occupAtion / lecturer & trapeze artIst
Where / NOrthlaNd, WgtN
We only notice rubbish When it’s in the Wrong place./ thompson, 1979 /
As an investigation into the often out of sight, out of mind world of the discarded, I embarked on a six month journey of noticing rubbish and questioning the right and the wrong place for it.
Who / me
WhAt / rubbIsh
When / march – NOvember, 2011
Where / WgtN
Why / tO NOtIce
/ 02 – 21 / 01 / Drop
/ 22 – 37 / 02 / Carry
/ 38 – 51 / 03 / Bury
/ 52 – 59 / 04 / Gritty
noticednotice / v / to treat as worthy of recognition or attention.
rubbish / n / material that is considered unimportant or valueless.
Wrong / adj / contrary to what one approves as right.
plAce / n / a particular position, point, or area in space; a location.
/ Oxford English Dictionary, 2003 /
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/throw away/chuck out/get rid of/discard /
/01/ drop
2/60
the Action /
Throwing out is easy. From where I stand, with rubbish in hand, I take 10 steps to the left. There I find the bin. I put my foot down onto the bin pedal. The lid opens. I throw the rubbish in. It doesn’t usually miss. I take my foot off the pedal and the lid closes. I take 10 steps back to where I was. Gone. The throwing out process takes me 20 seconds from where I stand.
Open / throw / close / gone?
/throw away/chuck out/get rid of/discard /
/01/ drop
/ tyPical duration / 1 min–1 week
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HoW do you noTIcE youR RubbIsH? /
noTIcInG /
rubbish or orlando bloom?
HoW do you noTIcE youR RubbIsH? /
noTIcInG /
rubbish or orlando bloom?
day ONe /
10:59 / Biro / PlAsTIc, mETAl. I feel frustrated that I have no choice but to discard an object that is still a useful item, if only I could refill the ink. obviously touching on a cradle to grave issue here. This was my first piece of rubbish for the day though. I do have a refill fountain pen. not sure why I don’t use it anymore. Forgot about it perhaps. I will try to start using it again.
12:03 / ruBBer hair tie / PlAsTIc?
It just snapped. They only seem to last one use. I was a bit distracted thinking about this project hence I pulled my hair tie too taut when putting my hair up. It snapped.
19:03 / ruBBer hair tie / PlAsTIc? There goes another one.
19:25 / Food packaging strip, Frozen
spinach / PlAsTIc.
19:59 / sticker, apple / PlAsTIc. These really irritate me. Are they necessary for the producers? They certainly aren’t necessary for me.
20:58 / Milk Bottle seal / PlAsTIc,
PAPER. Time to open the new milk for a cup of tea.
23:42 / dental Floss / PlAsTIc? I have to admit I rinsed these before putting them into my clear container bin. There is just something too wrong about sharing the visual of what I had between my teeth.
Well that really wasn’t much landfill waste for one day. Was I consciously not throwing things away? nothing terribly repulsive in there at the moment. definitely has a novelty feel to it at this stage. Each piece of rubbish appears to have its own personality, lying resting in its clear walled home. Goodness, I sense that I will feel sad to say goodbye to my new desk companion at the end of this rubbish noticing week.
dAy TWo /
08:02 / packaging strip, dog Food treat
packet / PlAsTIc. It made me question if a lot of items become rubbish in stages? First the small part of the packaging which allows access to the product, then the remainder of the packaging once the product is used up.
09:06 / sticker, apple / PlAsTIc. They still irritate me.
09:08 / dog Biscuits / WHATEvER IT Is
THAT doGs EAT. left over from last night but I left them out over night by accident and we um... have rats so safer to throw them out I think. no, not pet rats, but rat rats. yip, outside. yip inside. Inside the kitchen late at night. It is due to the fact that our compost bin is outside. It attracts the rats. because we
don’t have a large yard the compost isn’t that far from the house. but I would never contemplate getting rid of the compost bin. but I don’t really feel comfortable having rats in the house. A bit of a health hazard I think! but I also don’t feel that comfortable killing the rats. Perhaps I will just cover over the hole that they have eaten out of the floor to stop them coming in.
10:01 / BoBBy pin / mETAl. you no longer have any grip, you have to go.
10:08 / ear Bud / PlAsTIc, coTTon. much like yesterday’s dental floss I don’t really want this in my transparent bin.
10:58 / Biro / PlAsTIc, mETAl. Another pen gone just before 11am!
19:04 / Food packaging, toFu sausage
Bag / PlAsTIc.
19:09 / Food packaging, cottage cheese
seal / PlAsTIc, PAPER?
19:16 / paper towel / PAPER. If this has just wiped up water (I know I should have used a cloth) can it be recycled? I will check, but I believe it can be composted.
Today I was keenly made aware of just how difficult it is to avoid sending rubbish to landfill when one is not at home. While at the Kilbirnie organic store I was given a receipt. I had to hold on to this receipt as I didn’t want to throw it into a general rubbish bin on the street. I carried it with me until I got to the Wakefield street organic store (the other store didn’t have everything I needed). I asked them if they could recycle it and they gratefully took it from me. It was good to get rid of it. It was annoying carrying it around with me. I told her that it is difficult to recycle paper when away from one’s house. she responded with a ‘yeah’ then quickly changed the topic to ‘orlando bloom was in the store this morning’. so, yeah, rubbish or orlando bloom, you decide.
21:04 / Food packaging, yogurt pottle
seal / PlAsTIc, PAPER?
11:25 / Food packaging, easy yo Bag /
PlAsTIc, mETAl?
11:35 / dental Floss x 2 / PlAsTIc?
day three /
10:26 / packaging, newspaper Bag /
PlAsTIc.
11:12 / used tissue / PAPER. Found fallen behind my desk.
Three days in and I have to say that the novelty of noticing my rubbish to this degree has worn off. It is too time consuming.
13:08 / dog hair / blAcK sPoodlE FuR. she wasn’t actually supposed to shed.
Who / me
WhAt / my rubbIsh seNt tO laNdfIll
When / JuNe 13 – 19, 2011
Where / IN a clear bIN ON my desk
Why / tO NOtIce
5/60
56 items / totAl rubbish to lAndfill in 7 dAys
27 items / Non-recyclable plastic food packaging
18 items / personal hygiene
4 items / dog doo + bag
3 items / Stationery
3 items / Hair products
1 item / Misc non-recyclable plastic
nice to have some colour in my rubbish now. noticing how my handwriting is getting progressively messier. I really can’t be bothered writing about my rubbish anymore. more important things to be doing than noticing every piece of rubbish that I am required to throw out.
23:45 / Milk Bottle seal / PlAsTIc,
PAPER. not too pleasant a smell on opening my bin just now.
11:55 / dental Floss x 2 / PlAsTIc? one good thing about keeping track of my rubbish is that it reminds me when I haven’t flossed.
day sIx /
I couldn’t be bothered ‘noticing’ my rubbish today. I was far too busy with other things that seemed much more important. Result: no rubbish added to bin, no notes taken, no photos. nothing but nothing.
day seveN /
08:02 / packaging strip, dog treat
packet / PlAsTIc.
13:55 / tissues x 2 / PAPER.
08:32 / dog doo Bag + contents / PlAsTIc
+ doG doo. A stranger commented that it was good to see that I was picking up my shit. Well it wasn’t mine but I am responsible for it. He did seem a bit aggressive. I then put this in a different stranger’s wheelie bin. Was that was bad manners?
19:32 / Food packaging, styroFoaM plate
FroM MushrooM / sTyRoFoAm. Why do they sell us this!
19:52 / Food packaging, Frozen spinach
Bag / PlAsTIc.
19:52 / Food packaging, Frozen Brussel
sprouts Bag / PlAsTIc.
21:27 / Food packaging, easy yo Bag / PlAsTIc, mETAl?
23:55 / dental Floss x 2 / PlAsTIc? only because the box made me feel guilty about not wanting to floss tonight.
I have to admit I am pleased that this week of having to spend so much time focused on noticing my rubbish has come to an end. When life gets busy you don’t really want to dedicate this much time to something that is usually so peripheral.
13:13 / Food packaging strip, dried Figs /
PlAsTIc, mETAl?
day fOur /
Feeling totally overwhelmed by rubbish today. I don’t even want to think about it let alone record my daily relationship with it. Too much rubbish, not enough nature. I haven’t thrown anything away as of yet.
13:55 / tissues x 2 / PAPER. Amazing that I hadn’t produced any landfill rubbish prior to this today.
15:41 / tissues x 2 / PAPER. Found these in my pocket.
21:02 / Food packaging strip, Frozen
spinach / PlAsTIc.
21:02 / Food packaging strip, corn
crackers / PlAsTIc.
not feeling so attracted to my rubbish now. The dog biscuits are starting to smell. old tuna sitting in sealed glass container outside waiting for rubbish collection day. I broke my rule again. I couldn’t face putting it in my transparent bin because of the odour. It is easy to break one’s own rules.
Have I lied about my rubbish? I don’t think so. Forgotten to put something into my clear bin? Quite possibly. usually I am barely conscious when putting rubbish into the bin and I am a rubbish conscious person. I go into zombie / autopilot mode. I save my thoughts for things deemed more important.
but I will miss my desk companion (‘betty’ as I have started calling it) as I head off to university today. Getting attached to one’s rubbish is not normal behaviour. does it mean that I need more friends?
day fIve /
looks like I forgot to floss last night. no floss in the box. unless of course I threw it in the real bin by accident. I have been doing that a lot lately, throwing it in the bin and forgetting about betty.
10:03 / Food packaging, Frozen spinach
Bag / PlAsTIc.
10:03 / packaging strip, dog treat
packet / PlAsTIc.
10:03 / Food packaging, apple Bag + red
tie / PlAsTIc, mETAl.
12:41 / Food packaging, chocolate Block
wrapper / PlAsTIc.
12:52 / Biro / PlAsTIc, mETAl. Another pen ran out! I can’t believe that is three pens in 5 days.
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QuEsTIonInG /
HoW do you QuEsTIon youR RubbIsH? /
does it mean i need more friends?
/ it just snaPPed / it made me question / it wasn’t mine
/ nice to have colour in my rubbish /
do you photo-graph your rubbish?
10/60
/ scrunch / tear / cut / throw
Who / WgtN resIdeNts
WhAt / theIr rubbIsh bINs
When / JuNe – august, 2011
Where / WellINgtON
Why / tO NOtIce
Through both an online survey and email requests I asked over 100 Wellington residents to email me a bird’s-eye view photograph of the contents of their household rubbish bins. 10 people responded. I decided not to push it. I don’t think people like to photograph their rubbish bins.
11/60
i’m often surprised how often it needs emptying.
EacH NEw ZEalaNd HouSEHold producES
ovEr a toNNE of rubbiSH EvEry yEar. / Ministry for the Environment, 2011 /
Age / 31 – 40
gender / female
occupAtion / teacher
Where / avalON
12/60
Age / 31 – 40
gender / male
occupAtion / lecturer, trapeze artIst
Where / NOrthlaNd
That’s my bin. I made it when I was 8.
/ lazy? / ill-informed? / uninformed? / doesn’t care? / service unavailable?
glad Wrap / chOcOlate bar Wrappers / dIrty plastIc bags / paper tOWels / brOkeN mug / take-aWay cOffee cup / paper trImmINgs / cd aNd cases / peN / batterIes / NeWspaper / receIpt / plastIc bag / Old dress, NOt gOOd eNOugh tO sell but prObably gOOd eNOugh tO gIve aWay / the packagINg a set Of haIr tIes came IN / stIr-fry sauce packet / 1 pOlystyreNe meat tray / stIckINg label frOm buNch Of baNaNas / apple stIckers / plastIc sushI tray / WOOdeN chOp stIcks / paper NapkIN / 2 egg shells / tIssues / cheWINg gum / 200 x 200mm glad Wrap / receIpt frOm luNch / baby fOOd packet / tIssues / takeaWay cOffee cup / letter / plastIc salad cONtaINer / pIzza bOxes / paper / plastIc bag / supermarket plastIc bag / sOy mIlk cONtaINer / I’m pretty sure there Were 2 Other thINgs that I’ve fOrgOtteN abOut, but they WereN’t memOrable / gIrl guIde bIscuIt bOx / tOIlet rOll / garlIc peels / cut up Old credIt card / tOIlet rOll / paper at WOrk / plastIc bag / plastIc bag / beer bOttles / paper / plastIc WrappINg Of fOOd (WhIch I hate) / plastIc packagINg fOr ham / saNItary packagINg / 4 tea bags / brOkeN crOckery / tOfu sausage packagINg / tIssue / lettuce / fOOd scraps / prINtINg paper / takeaWay cONtaINers / paper plate / glass bOttle / tea leaves / apple cOre / red grape pOlystyreNe packagINg / sOme plastIc packagINg / fOOd Wrappers / cheese / meat / bacON / lIds / tIssue paper / prINtINg paper / plastIc Wrap / haNdy tOWel / glad Wrap / packagINg / take-aWay cOffee cup / fOOd scraps / plastIc bag / plastIc bag / plastIc bag / packagINg / paper tOWels / tIN fOIl / caN / muffIN Wrapper / cIgarette packet / cIgarettes (abOut 5) / tampONs aNd pads / meat scraps / seal frOm mIlk bOttle / pIe Wrapper / receIpt / cOke bOttle / vItamIN Water bOttle / NeWspapers / bus tIcket / cheWINg gum / plastIc cONtaINers / spaghettI tIN / fOOd scraps / drINk cup + straW / plastIc sOup cONtaINer / tOIlet rOlls / parkINg cOupON / receIpt / take-aWay cOffee cup / a bucket / aftershave caN / used cONdOm / plastIc peN Wrapper / plastIc NeWspaper Wrapper / cOttON buds / tINfOIl Wrap / tag Off NeW paIr Of JeaNs / glad Wrap / plastIc Wrap that bacON came IN / 1 empty pasta packet / 1 x subWay Wrapper / half subWay saNdWIch / 2 x paper NapkINs / bONes / dead clOck / meat scraps If aNy / meat / fIsh WrappINgs / tray (plastIc/pOlystyreNe) / ONION peel / bubble Wrap / cOke bOttle / sushI cONtaINer / chOp stIcks / sOup plastIc cONtaINer / bOttle lIds / egg shells / egg Waste / lIght bulb / cat fOOd cONtaINers / Jar lIds / pasta sauce Jar / metal bOttle caps / plastIc Wrapper, cheese / plastIc Wrapper, crackers / plastIc Wrapper, bIscuIts / plastIc Wrapper, crIsps / lINed cardbOard / sOy mIlk cONtaINer / egg cartON / bIt Of Old plastIc / dIrty plastIc bag / sOme brOkeN tOy / 5 used NappIes / 2 utterly trashed paIrs Of kIds sNeakers WIth hOles all Over / styrOfOam trays frOm butcher / glad Wrap / chIckeN trays / JuNk maIl / baNaNa bOx / mueslI bar Wrappers / clOthes / tIssues / plastIc that IsN’t recyclable / metal (OveN tray) / fOIl packagINg / Old cat cOllar / sOme mOuldy shOes / electrIcal WIre / haNdy tOWels / sOme plastIc arOuNd sOme cheese / sOy mIlk cONtaINers / packagINg / take-aWay cOffee cup / eNvelOpes frOm bIlls Or sOmethINg / Q-tIps / tIssue paper / beer caN / cOffee grOuNds / apprOx 6 tea bags / vItamIN Water bOttle / fOOd leftOvers / ONION skINs / maNdarIN skINs / cOOked meal Waste / glad Wrap / fOOd packagINg / cOttON WOOl buds / flOss / dIrty paper tOWels / fOOd frOm my plate at breakfast, luNch aNd dINNer / rOtteN fOOd IN the frIdge / tIssues / paper plate aNd uteNsIls / dIrty dIapers / 3 dOg sOft tOys that had beeN utterly destrOyed / grOcery packagINg / Wrappers / left Overs / receIpts / plastIc fOrk / receIpts / paper NapkIN / muffIN Wrapper / NeW WOrld bag / baNaNa bOx / drINk caN / flOss / flOss / haIr frOm my brush / tampON / female saNItary Items / takeaWay cOffee cup / takeaWay cOffee cup / peels, tea mud, etc / dIapers / Old fIsh / spINach / turkey / celery / grapes / pre-made meals leftOvers / glad Wrap / glass bOttle / tOIlet paper rOll / WINe bOttle / pasta sauce cONtaINer / Old fOOd frOm the frIdge / tIssue / plastIc cONtaINer frOm dessert / plastIc Wrappers / paper / glad Wrap / meal leftOvers that areN’t fed tO the dOg! / takeaWay cOffee cup / egg shells / mIlk bOttle / mIlk bOttle cap / glad Wrap frOm sammIes / baNaNa skIN / tOeNaIl clIppINgs / ear bud / cIgarette butts / lIghtbulb / OraNge JuIce bOttle / NappIes / fOOd Waste / Old key / Old heater that Is NO lONger WOrkINg / tIssues / um... um... sheesh, stuff, aNd NOW I’m NOt sure What! / paper tOWels / JuNk maIl / eNvelOpe / NappIes / battery / fOOd Waste / flOss / cOttON WOOl / Old peN / tIssues / plastIc grOcery bag / fOOd scraps / dOg haIr / dIrty plastIc stuff / prIvate Items lIke letters WIth Our Names ON / tetra packs / meat packets / geNeral fOOd packINg / brOkeN tOys / mOstly fOOd scraps aNd fOOd packets / tIssues / fOOd / scraps Of plastIc / grOcery bag / saNItary prOducts / apple cOre / kIWIfruIt skIN / gum Wrapper / margarINe cONtaINer / fOOd Wrappers / NapkINs / used tIssues / NappIes / sushI plastIc tray / tIssues / cOttON buds / Old brOkeN drIll / Old paIr Of kNIckers / apple cOre / pump drINk bOttle / WIpes / fOOd scraps / plastIc Wrappers / baNaNa / cOffee cup / maNdarIN peels / chIckeN bONes / eNvelOpes / cOffee cup / sOme types Of fOOd packagINg / geOrge mIchael recOrds/cds (I am tryINg tO rId the earth Of them ONe at a tIme... Is thIs a cONtamINaNt?) / stuff my sON raNdOmly pIcks up / smelly fOOd scraps lIke fIsh bONes / deNtal flOss / pIll cONtaINer / meat scraps / NeWspaper / beer bOttle / sOme packagINg / NappIes / fOOd scraps / plastIc bIt Of WINdOW eNvelOpes / bOardINg pass / plastIc thrOat lOzeNge packet / lemsIp packet (metallIc cOated) / mIlk bOttle caps / NappIes (ONly the used ONes) / tIssues (We have cOlds at the mOmeNt) / fOOd scraps / paper tOWels (used) / used razOr blades / plastIc WrappINgs / OrgaNIc matter (frOm preparINg fOOd) / Jar lIds / receIpts / vINyl glOves / art Off-casts that areN’t recyclable / fOOd scraps / packagINg that caNNOt be recycled / cOffee cup / fOOd packagINg / seWINg Off-cuts (uNusable thread, materIal) / used tIssues / greeN party letter / tOIlet rOll / clOthINg tag / clOthes lINt / pOtatO bag / cream bOttle / left Over mashed pOtatO / paper / tIssues / peaNut butter saNdWIch crusts / left Over muffIN / muffIN Wrapper / left Over sWeet cOrN / mIlk bOttle lId / egg / tIssue / ONION skIN / tIN + lId / plastIc WrappINg / tIssue / lOlly Wrapper / tOeNaIl clIppINgs / fOOd Wrappers / fOOd scraps / used cat lItter / cOffee cup / fOOd scraps / Old paIr Of sNeakers / dOg pOO IN a bag - stINky / tIssues / receIpts / fOOd cONtaINers / Nappy / cOttON buds / cat fOOd sachets (x2) / fOOd scraps / cOrN tIN / chOcOlate bar Wrappers / glad Wrap that’s beeN arOuNd meat / tOIlet paper rOlls / dead peNs / packagINg / fOOd Waste / cleaNINg supplIes / tOIlet rOll / tOIlet rOll / tOIlet rOll / Old hIghlIghter / cracker packagINg / apple cOre / frOzeN brussel sprOuts WrappINg / frOzeN spINach WrappINg / dOg fOOd packagINg / brOkeN rat trap / plastIc cOmpOsItes / tINs / flOss / lOts Of tea bags / paper at WOrk (cOs We dON’t have recyclINg there) / eggshells / maNdarIN peel / glad Wrap / cOOked fOOd scraps / NappIes / tIssues / paper tOWels / fOIl bags / receIpt / tIssues / prINtINg paper / sOup packet / tIssues / NOte paper / 2 mINute NOOdle packagINg / cardbOard tOfu sausage WrappINg / plastIc bag / paper bag / cOffee cup / cOffee cup / chIppIe packets / bIscuIt WrappINgs / cheese Wrappers / plastIc WrappINg / packagINg Of fOOd / sOy mIlk aNd mIlk cartONs / tIssues / tIssues / NappIes / tampONs / chIp fOOd packets / bIscuIt fOOd packets / glad Wrap / left Over dOg fOOd / tINfOIl / cOffee Jar / paper / receIpts / letters / paper bags / Wrappers / glad Wrap / pOpcOrN packet / mueslI bar packet / JuNk maIl / bIscuIt packagINg / large paper eNvelOpe / paper tOWel / plastIc WrappINg / eNvelOpe / brOkeN plastIc bags / peNcIl shavINgs / 3 stIcky NOtes / tIssues / left Over pasta / cat fOOd sachet / chIckeN skIN / NIght Nappy / dIrty cheese Wrapper / used tIssues / NeW WOrld bag / NappIes / WrappINg / used tIssues / meat scraps / dust cONtaINer Of vacuum cleaNer / haIr / fOOd Wrappers / cOOked fOOd scraps / glad Wrap / NON-recycle cONtaINers / aN Old rubbIsh bIN! / fOOd Wrappers / dOg haIr / make-up WIpes / aN Old mOp / tea bags / tuNa tIN (at WOrk) / Natural lIQuOrIce bag / muffIN Wrapper / large lettuce leaf / cOke bOttle / Water bOttle / clOthINg tag / plastIc bag / fruIt stIcker / cardbOard cake bOx / prINted paper / cabbage / mIlk bOttle seal / tOIlet rOll / paper tOWels / flOss / peaNut plastIc bag / paper stOckINg bOx / deOdOraNt spray caN / NeW shOe tIssue paper / sOck / cardbOard Wrapper / plastIc bag / tIssues / pOst It NOte / NON-recyclable plastIcs / fOOd Waste / paper / empty bOttles / fOOd scraps / fOOd packagINg / cOffee cup / cheWINg gum / OraNge peel / tIssues / packagINg frOm chOc bars / cIgarette butts / paper scraps / packets / paper / eNvelOpes / JuNk maIl / fOOd / tIssues / glad Wrap / mIlk bOttle / egg shells / bread bag / meat packagINg / sOme plastIc bags (bread bags etc.) / meat aNd raNdOm fOOd Waste / bOttle tOps / kIds NappIes / kIds WIpes / fOOd scraps / plastIc / fOOd Wrappers / cOffee cups / tIssues / tIssues / take-aWay cOffee cup / caNs / Wrappers fOr chOcOlate / rIce crackers / meals / subWay cOOkIe package / pay slIp / baNaNa skIN / sku tIckets at WOrk / face WIpe / glad Wrap / tray frOm chIckeN / JuIce bOttle etc / fOOd stuff / regular hOuse hOld Item stuff / fIsh & chIp bag / plastIc tear strIp frOm a Nz pOst bag / Old paIr Of sOcks / used cOttON buds / breakfast leftOvers / lINt frOm dryer / apple cOres / paper / traIN tIckets / bus tIckets / Old vIsa card — cut up / luNch Wrappers / dINNer leftOvers / mueslI bar Wrapper / apple cOre / a feW bIts Of paper / receIpt / aa batterIes / used tIssues / stuff / chIp packet / take-aWay cOffee cup / paper / plastIc fOOd cONtaINers / lIght bulb / scraps Of paper / receIpt / parkINg cOupON / v caN / cOffee cup / eNvelOpe / shOppINg bag / receIpt /
glad Wrap / chOcOlate bar Wrappers / dIrty plastIc bags / paper tOWels / brOkeN mug / take-aWay cOffee cup / paper trImmINgs / cd aNd cases / peN / batterIes / NeWspaper / receIpt / plastIc bag / Old dress, NOt gOOd eNOugh tO sell but prObably gOOd eNOugh tO gIve aWay / the packagINg a set Of haIr tIes came IN / stIr-fry sauce packet / 1 pOlystyreNe meat tray / stIckINg label frOm buNch Of baNaNas / apple stIckers / plastIc sushI tray / WOOdeN chOp stIcks / paper NapkIN / 2 egg shells / tIssues / cheWINg gum / 200 x 200mm glad Wrap / receIpt frOm luNch / baby fOOd packet / tIssues / takeaWay cOffee cup / letter / plastIc salad cONtaINer / pIzza bOxes / paper / plastIc bag / supermarket plastIc bag / sOy mIlk cONtaINer / I’m pretty sure there Were 2 Other thINgs that I’ve fOrgOtteN abOut, but they WereN’t memOrable / gIrl guIde bIscuIt bOx / tOIlet rOll / garlIc peels / cut up Old credIt card / tOIlet rOll / paper at WOrk / plastIc bag / plastIc bag / beer bOttles / paper / plastIc WrappINg Of fOOd (WhIch I hate) / plastIc packagINg fOr ham / saNItary packagINg / 4 tea bags / brOkeN crOckery / tOfu sausage packagINg / tIssue / lettuce / fOOd scraps / prINtINg paper / takeaWay cONtaINers / paper plate / glass bOttle / tea leaves / apple cOre / red grape pOlystyreNe packagINg / sOme plastIc packagINg / fOOd Wrappers / cheese / meat / bacON / lIds / tIssue paper / prINtINg paper / plastIc Wrap / haNdy tOWel / glad Wrap / packagINg / take-aWay cOffee cup / fOOd scraps / plastIc bag / plastIc bag / plastIc bag / packagINg / paper tOWels / tIN fOIl / caN / muffIN Wrapper / cIgarette packet / cIgarettes (abOut 5) / tampONs aNd pads / meat scraps / seal frOm mIlk bOttle / pIe Wrapper / receIpt / cOke bOttle / vItamIN Water bOttle / NeWspapers / bus tIcket / cheWINg gum / plastIc cONtaINers / spaghettI tIN / fOOd scraps / drINk cup + straW / plastIc sOup cONtaINer / tOIlet rOlls / parkINg cOupON / receIpt / take-aWay cOffee cup / a bucket / aftershave caN / used cONdOm / plastIc peN Wrapper / plastIc NeWspaper Wrapper / cOttON buds / tINfOIl Wrap / tag Off NeW paIr Of JeaNs / glad Wrap / plastIc Wrap that bacON came IN / 1 empty pasta packet / 1 x subWay Wrapper / half subWay saNdWIch / 2 x paper NapkINs / bONes / dead clOck / meat scraps If aNy / meat / fIsh WrappINgs / tray (plastIc/pOlystyreNe) / ONION peel / bubble Wrap / cOke bOttle / sushI cONtaINer / chOp stIcks / sOup plastIc cONtaINer / bOttle lIds / egg shells / egg Waste / lIght bulb / cat fOOd cONtaINers / Jar lIds / pasta sauce Jar / metal bOttle caps / plastIc Wrapper, cheese / plastIc Wrapper, crackers / plastIc Wrapper, bIscuIts / plastIc Wrapper, crIsps / lINed cardbOard / sOy mIlk cONtaINer / egg cartON / bIt Of Old plastIc / dIrty plastIc bag / sOme brOkeN tOy / 5 used NappIes / 2 utterly trashed paIrs Of kIds sNeakers WIth hOles all Over / styrOfOam trays frOm butcher / glad Wrap / chIckeN trays / JuNk maIl / baNaNa bOx / mueslI bar Wrappers / clOthes / tIssues / plastIc that IsN’t recyclable / metal (OveN tray) / fOIl packagINg / Old cat cOllar / sOme mOuldy shOes / electrIcal WIre / haNdy tOWels / sOme plastIc arOuNd sOme cheese / sOy mIlk cONtaINers / packagINg / take-aWay cOffee cup / eNvelOpes frOm bIlls Or sOmethINg / Q-tIps / tIssue paper / beer caN / cOffee grOuNds / apprOx 6 tea bags / vItamIN Water bOttle / fOOd leftOvers / ONION skINs / maNdarIN skINs / cOOked meal Waste / glad Wrap / fOOd packagINg / cOttON WOOl buds / flOss / dIrty paper tOWels / fOOd frOm my plate at breakfast, luNch aNd dINNer / rOtteN fOOd IN the frIdge / tIssues / paper plate aNd uteNsIls / dIrty dIapers / 3 dOg sOft tOys that had beeN utterly destrOyed / grOcery packagINg / Wrappers / left Overs / receIpts / plastIc fOrk / receIpts / paper NapkIN / muffIN Wrapper / NeW WOrld bag / baNaNa bOx / drINk caN / flOss / flOss / haIr frOm my brush / tampON / female saNItary Items / takeaWay cOffee cup / takeaWay cOffee cup / peels, tea mud, etc / dIapers / Old fIsh / spINach / turkey / celery / grapes / pre-made meals leftOvers / glad Wrap / glass bOttle / tOIlet paper rOll / WINe bOttle / pasta sauce cONtaINer / Old fOOd frOm the frIdge / tIssue / plastIc cONtaINer frOm dessert / plastIc Wrappers / paper / glad Wrap / meal leftOvers that areN’t fed tO the dOg! / takeaWay cOffee cup / egg shells / mIlk bOttle / mIlk bOttle cap / glad Wrap frOm sammIes / baNaNa skIN / tOeNaIl clIppINgs / ear bud / cIgarette butts / lIghtbulb / OraNge JuIce bOttle / NappIes / fOOd Waste / Old key / Old heater that Is NO lONger WOrkINg / tIssues / um... um... sheesh, stuff, aNd NOW I’m NOt sure What! / paper tOWels / JuNk maIl / eNvelOpe / NappIes / battery / fOOd Waste / flOss / cOttON WOOl / Old peN / tIssues / plastIc grOcery bag / fOOd scraps / dOg haIr / dIrty plastIc stuff / prIvate Items lIke letters WIth Our Names ON / tetra packs / meat packets / geNeral fOOd packINg / brOkeN tOys / mOstly fOOd scraps aNd fOOd packets / tIssues / fOOd / scraps Of plastIc / grOcery bag / saNItary prOducts / apple cOre / kIWIfruIt skIN / gum Wrapper / margarINe cONtaINer / fOOd Wrappers / NapkINs / used tIssues / NappIes / sushI plastIc tray / tIssues / cOttON buds / Old brOkeN drIll / Old paIr Of kNIckers / apple cOre / pump drINk bOttle / WIpes / fOOd scraps / plastIc Wrappers / baNaNa / cOffee cup / maNdarIN peels / chIckeN bONes / eNvelOpes / cOffee cup / sOme types Of fOOd packagINg / geOrge mIchael recOrds/cds (I am tryINg tO rId the earth Of them ONe at a tIme... Is thIs a cONtamINaNt?) / stuff my sON raNdOmly pIcks up / smelly fOOd scraps lIke fIsh bONes / deNtal flOss / pIll cONtaINer / meat scraps / NeWspaper / beer bOttle / sOme packagINg / NappIes / fOOd scraps / plastIc bIt Of WINdOW eNvelOpes / bOardINg pass / plastIc thrOat lOzeNge packet / lemsIp packet (metallIc cOated) / mIlk bOttle caps / NappIes (ONly the used ONes) / tIssues (We have cOlds at the mOmeNt) / fOOd scraps / paper tOWels (used) / used razOr blades / plastIc WrappINgs / OrgaNIc matter (frOm preparINg fOOd) / Jar lIds / receIpts / vINyl glOves / art Off-casts that areN’t recyclable / fOOd scraps / packagINg that caNNOt be recycled / cOffee cup / fOOd packagINg / seWINg Off-cuts (uNusable thread, materIal) / used tIssues / greeN party letter / tOIlet rOll / clOthINg tag / clOthes lINt / pOtatO bag / cream bOttle / left Over mashed pOtatO / paper / tIssues / peaNut butter saNdWIch crusts / left Over muffIN / muffIN Wrapper / left Over sWeet cOrN / mIlk bOttle lId / egg / tIssue / ONION skIN / tIN + lId / plastIc WrappINg / tIssue / lOlly Wrapper / tOeNaIl clIppINgs / fOOd Wrappers / fOOd scraps / used cat lItter / cOffee cup / fOOd scraps / Old paIr Of sNeakers / dOg pOO IN a bag - stINky / tIssues / receIpts / fOOd cONtaINers / Nappy / cOttON buds / cat fOOd sachets (x2) / fOOd scraps / cOrN tIN / chOcOlate bar Wrappers / glad Wrap that’s beeN arOuNd meat / tOIlet paper rOlls / dead peNs / packagINg / fOOd Waste / cleaNINg supplIes / tOIlet rOll / tOIlet rOll / tOIlet rOll / Old hIghlIghter / cracker packagINg / apple cOre / frOzeN brussel sprOuts WrappINg / frOzeN spINach WrappINg / dOg fOOd packagINg / brOkeN rat trap / plastIc cOmpOsItes / tINs / flOss / lOts Of tea bags / paper at WOrk (cOs We dON’t have recyclINg there) / eggshells / maNdarIN peel / glad Wrap / cOOked fOOd scraps / NappIes / tIssues / paper tOWels / fOIl bags / receIpt / tIssues / prINtINg paper / sOup packet / tIssues / NOte paper / 2 mINute NOOdle packagINg / cardbOard tOfu sausage WrappINg / plastIc bag / paper bag / cOffee cup / cOffee cup / chIppIe packets / bIscuIt WrappINgs / cheese Wrappers / plastIc WrappINg / packagINg Of fOOd / sOy mIlk aNd mIlk cartONs / tIssues / tIssues / NappIes / tampONs / chIp fOOd packets / bIscuIt fOOd packets / glad Wrap / left Over dOg fOOd / tINfOIl / cOffee Jar / paper / receIpts / letters / paper bags / Wrappers / glad Wrap / pOpcOrN packet / mueslI bar packet / JuNk maIl / bIscuIt packagINg / large paper eNvelOpe / paper tOWel / plastIc WrappINg / eNvelOpe / brOkeN plastIc bags / peNcIl shavINgs / 3 stIcky NOtes / tIssues / left Over pasta / cat fOOd sachet / chIckeN skIN / NIght Nappy / dIrty cheese Wrapper / used tIssues / NeW WOrld bag / NappIes / WrappINg / used tIssues / meat scraps / dust cONtaINer Of vacuum cleaNer / haIr / fOOd Wrappers / cOOked fOOd scraps / glad Wrap / NON-recycle cONtaINers / aN Old rubbIsh bIN! / fOOd Wrappers / dOg haIr / make-up WIpes / aN Old mOp / tea bags / tuNa tIN (at WOrk) / Natural lIQuOrIce bag / muffIN Wrapper / large lettuce leaf / cOke bOttle / Water bOttle / clOthINg tag / plastIc bag / fruIt stIcker / cardbOard cake bOx / prINted paper / cabbage / mIlk bOttle seal / tOIlet rOll / paper tOWels / flOss / peaNut plastIc bag / paper stOckINg bOx / deOdOraNt spray caN / NeW shOe tIssue paper / sOck / cardbOard Wrapper / plastIc bag / tIssues / pOst It NOte / NON-recyclable plastIcs / fOOd Waste / paper / empty bOttles / fOOd scraps / fOOd packagINg / cOffee cup / cheWINg gum / OraNge peel / tIssues / packagINg frOm chOc bars / cIgarette butts / paper scraps / packets / paper / eNvelOpes / JuNk maIl / fOOd / tIssues / glad Wrap / mIlk bOttle / egg shells / bread bag / meat packagINg / sOme plastIc bags (bread bags etc.) / meat aNd raNdOm fOOd Waste / bOttle tOps / kIds NappIes / kIds WIpes / fOOd scraps / plastIc / fOOd Wrappers / cOffee cups / tIssues / tIssues / take-aWay cOffee cup / caNs / Wrappers fOr chOcOlate / rIce crackers / meals / subWay cOOkIe package / pay slIp / baNaNa skIN / sku tIckets at WOrk / face WIpe / glad Wrap / tray frOm chIckeN / JuIce bOttle etc / fOOd stuff / regular hOuse hOld Item stuff / fIsh & chIp bag / plastIc tear strIp frOm a Nz pOst bag / Old paIr Of sOcks / used cOttON buds / breakfast leftOvers / lINt frOm dryer / apple cOres / paper / traIN tIckets / bus tIckets / Old vIsa card — cut up / luNch Wrappers / dINNer leftOvers / mueslI bar Wrapper / apple cOre / a feW bIts Of paper / receIpt / aa batterIes / used tIssues / stuff / chIp packet / take-aWay cOffee cup / paper / plastIc fOOd cONtaINers / lIght bulb / scraps Of paper / receIpt / parkINg cOupON / v caN / cOffee cup / eNvelOpe / shOppINg bag / receIpt /
Who / 100 resIdeNts
WhAt / 24 hOurs Of rubbIsh seNt tO laNdfIll
When / JuNe, 2011
Where / WellINgtON
Why / tO NOtIce
Through an online survey I asked 100 Wellington residents to list everything they threw into the regular rubbish bin during a 24 hour period. Each coloured bar represents an item of rubbish that does not belong in landfill.
Hazardous Recyclable compostable
Age / 59 – 70
gender / male
occupAtion / publIc servaNt
Where / karOrI
If everyone had a reusable coffee cup imagine how many paper cups would not be needed. Having realised this I went out and bought one.
i hope i don’t skew your stats!
NEw ZEalaNdErS SENd 100 MillioN
coffEE cupS to laNdfillS EacH yEar.
/ 3 News /
Age / 30 – 39
gender / male
occupAtion / legeNdary desIgNer
Where / dIxON street Is Where the bIN Is.
mt cOOk Is Where I lIve.
19/60
no / nope / nah / nup / never / n/a / not at all / not often / not really / not usually / no thank you / not normally / not as a general rule / not as often as i should / i forget to think / not all the time! / sometimes / a little / from time to time / yes / always / a lot / i sure do! / It gets taken to a bigger bin, then to an even bigger
bin where it is left to rot for eternity! /
do you THInK AbouT WHAT HAPPEns To RubbIsH bEyond THE bIn? /
20/60
no / nope / nah / nup / never / n/a / not at all / not often / not really / not usually / no thank you / not normally / not as a general rule / not as often as i should / i forget to think / not all the time! / sometimes / a little / from time to time / yes / always / a lot / i sure do!
Who / 100 resIdeNts
WhAt / rubbIsh thOughts
When / JuNe, 2011
Where / WellINgtON
Why / tO NOtIce
Through an online survey I asked Wellington residents if they think about what happens to their rubbish beyond the rubbish bin.
61% responded with some form of no, 22% responded that they think about it sometimes, and 17% often think about it.
out of sight / out of mind?
21/60
/02/ carry
/fill uP /tie uP / Place down
22/60
the Action /
Get the yellow Wcc bag out of the cupboard. Walk around the side of the house to the black exterior bin. Pull out 5 white bags of rubbish. Put them into the yellow bag. Tie the yellow bag up. It is full. Put bin lid back on. carry the full yellow bag up the path. Place the bag down onto the footpath. Walk back down the path.
314 footsteps / 6 minutes and 21 seconds
/ tyPical duration / 24 hrs–1 week
23/60
/ does anybody else notice? /
Who / WgtN resIdeNts
WhAt / hOusehOld rubbIsh tO laNdfIll
When / 3 Weeks, JuNe 7 – 21, 2011
Where / a resIdeNtIal WgtN street
Why / tO NOtIce
Three weeks in a row I got up before dawn in order to notice my street’s household rubbish in the wrong place –recyclable material in general rubbish collection bags. The yellow dots represent the recyclable material that I was able to see simply by looking at the bags. no bags were opened or moved during this process. The photos can be seen on the following pages.
did you notice? / Will you notice?
Recyclable or compostable material
/ why do i care? // do you care? /
28/60
29/60
accusing glare / secret glance / dressing gown clad gawk / stare / stare / look of extreme fear /
mummy, why is that lady photographing everyone’s rubbish bags?
30/60
accusing glare / secret glance / dressing gown clad gawk / stare / stare / look of extreme fear /
i heArd /
Are you photographing my rubbish? Are you doing a survey? car. bus. scooter. Footsteps. Jogger steps. birds, dawn chorus. Wind, plastic, rustle. mummy why is that lady photographing everyone’s rubbish? Are you doing an art project? screech. brakes. screech. brakes.
i thought /
cold. Too early but pleasant –nobody else. Why do people do this? Why do I care so much? does anyone else notice? I think this is wrong. Is this wrong? Recycling may not be perfect but is it not better to recycle than to lock it in the land? Recycling can only improve. locked in the land can only be locked in the land. Why is everything so contained? do plastic bags really recycle now? do people know? communication wasn’t clear. Panic. Interesting. Rubbish defence. What does she have in there? How many more bags? smells nice – shampoo. so much plastic. so much rubbish. clean bags, dirty bags, bags in bags. mmm – hot toast. Treasure! He’s running. no, more of a trot. He’s trotting. so quick. That’s it. Gone?
i sAW /
not quite dark, not quite light. bags on bags, on bins, on road, on footpath, piled high. Paper, nappies, beer bottle, cardboard. margarine container, spaghetti can, paper, paper, paper. dressing gown, slippers, bed-head. Rubbish bag dropped at letterbox. Watties tinned pears. milk bottle! Fly buys. Plastic, plastic, plastic bags everywhere. Reflect. Reclosable lid. dew on bags, pretty. clementine, tomato top, plastic pot, tissues, purple spot. Accusing stare. super charge, junk mail, paper, denim, lace, wood, cardboard, newspaper. Toilet roll, moore Wilson’s bag, orange peel, bags, bags, bags. secret glance. commuters. In cars, on foot, in bus stops, in black shoes. stare. smile. veuve clicquot! dressing gown. stare from behind letterbox. stare. stare. look of extreme fear. bright. sun. sun is just starting to rise above the hill. chicken bones on footpath. margarine container, beer can, nappies. burst bag. Pills. Tea bags. Kumara. Egg shell. bottle caps. slides. scotland. bright. Hi vis. orange. oWyAK WAsTE. bright. Trot. Grab 1, 2 bags. Trot. Trot. Throw. drive. stop. Trot. Grab. Throw. Trot. drive. Trot. Grab 1,2,3 bags. Throw. Trot. drive.
/ hot toast / bed-head/ commuters in cars in bus stoPs in black shoes
31/60
75% of what new Zealanders send to landfill each year is reusable or recyclable material./ Ministry for the Environment, 2011 /
32/60
i sometimes think about how some people don’t really make any effort to recycle.
Age / 59 – 70
gender / male
occupAtion / retIred
Where / karOrI
34/60
the imparting or exchanging of information by speaking, writing, or using some other medium.
communicAtion WAsn’t cleAr /
/ oxford english dictionary, 2003 /
Who / WellINgtON resIdeNts
WhAt / recyclINg
When / 16 may – preseNt
Where / WellINgtON
Why / tO NOtIce
A new household recycling scheme began in Wellington during the course of this project. The council has introduced larger wheelie bins or plastic bags for plastic, metal and paper, while the small green bin is reserved for glass.
There have been numerous teething issues with the new system and communication could have been clearer as to what exactly does and doesn’t recycle. I set out to see if I could get some clarity about all this.
yes / no / Absolutely not / Wrong? / Right?
35/60
* can be recycled from Wellington homes
yip*
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/ remove all food incl. tiny dregs /
/ incl. Post-it® notes /
/ which ones? / ok... so, grocery bags (incl. fresh produce bags and pick ‘n mix bags) as well as shopping bags (farmers, glassons etc) can now be recycled even though they may not show the recycle icon / the preference is of course to use reusable bags when possible / many packaging bags are now recyclable– frozen peas for example – but these must present a #1 – #7 recycle icon /
/ the numbering system seems a tad erratic. some milk bottles are #02 for example, but they are fine to recycle / milk bottle and soda lids are usually #2 so they too are recyclable / best bet is to always check any plastic before discarding to see if it has a recycle icon /
/ these appear to not always make it to one’s recycling bin / do yours tend to get thrown into the bathroom bin, which then gets emptied into the yellow wcc bag? /
/ incl. plastic windows /
/ hi / sigh / Please hold the line
paper & cardBoard / newspapers / magazines / Receipts / Envelopes / Junk mail / All cardboard boxes (please flatten) / Pizza boxes / Toilet paper rolls / Egg cartons / Paper scraps
plastic (please clean) / All #1 – #7 plastics / Plastic bags
tins / cans (please clean) / Aluminium drink cans / Food tins (incl. lid) / Pet food tins (incl. lid)
glass (please clean) / Glass bottles and jars (remove lids)
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36/60
paper & cardBoard / used tissues / used paper towels / no Tetra Pak / no wax covered paper plastic / no Glad Wrap / no bubble wrap / no polystyrene Metals / no tin foil / no metal lids or bottle caps / no batteries / most aerosols
glass / no light bulbs / no broken glass / no Pyrex / no ceramics / no window glass / no mirrors
* search for ‘recycling’. ** A guy whose name starts with ‘J’ is very knowledgeable.
* can’t be recycled from Wellington homes
NopE*
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/ glad wrap has absolutely no chance of ever biodegrading / try wrapping your sandwiches in fabric wraps /
/ energy efficient light bulbs and any form of battery should ideally not be disposed of in the landfill as they may contain the hazardous metals mercury and lead / check the packaging for details / the only way i found of safely disposing of them was to drive up to the landfill and put them in the ice cream container they provide. would you do this? /
/ don’t be tricked by this, it is often marked as #6 plastic /
/ most aerosols like fly spray and deodorant cans cannot be recycled but other types can / always check to see if the can shows a recycling icon or not /
/ can be composted / / can be composted / / why is this stuff even produced? /
/ contradiction/ confusion/ deflation / elation
wellington.govt.nz* / 499 4444**
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more At Wcc /
37/60
/reverse/forward/scooP/ droP / Push /crush /gone?
/03/ bury
38/60
the Action /
you have nothing to do here, it is out of your hands, but is the rubbish still yours? The truck arrives, climbs up the hill at slow speed. It passes over the weigh station. It continues up the hill then veers right towards the landfill. It dumps all of the bags. They are then pushed around and then crushed to 20% of their original size under the chunky metallic dotty wheels of a large tractor. It is then covered by dirt which comes from the local quarry. It then awaits the next load of rubbish bags to be dumped on top.
Tip / landfill / dump / Gone?
/reverse/forward/scooP/ droP / Push /crush /gone?
/03/ bury
/ tyPical duration / all of eternity
39/60
/ rich/ sweet/ sickly/ rotten
i smelt /
stench of decomposition – rich, sweet, sickly rotten. It makes me think of dead seals.
Who / me
WhAt / rubbIsh at the laNdfIll
When / suNday 3rd July / thursday
28 July / saturday 6 august
Where / happy valley, WgtN
Why / tO NOtIce
I visited the southern Wellington landfill on several occasions. I was initially excited to revisit fond childhood memories of visiting the silverstream landfill with my father when I was younger.
The landfill however did nothing to rekindle these memories, it merely left me feeling sad, deflated and without hope.
40/60
/ stench / PoP/ dust/ sad
i heArd /
bags popping. Glass breaking. noise of rubbish being piled on rubbish, glass breaking, wood falling, metal clanging on metal, and the noise of birds roosting. The roar of heavy machinery. birds chirping.
i thought /
It’s like planned landscaping, but the rubbish forms the land. Feels like the end of the world. I don’t want to have to come back here too often, it is too depressing. Getting used to smell. Quiet. noisy. smell is not so strong today. They cart off parts of people’s lives. our lives are hazardous, surrounded by hazards of our own devising. overwhelming stench is giving me a headache. I am pleased I wore my old shoes. Why is perfectly good lEGo being thrown into the landfill? couldn’t that doll have been given to someone else? built to break and not be repaired, so much broken stuff. do these people enjoy their job? I feel sad, I feel angry, why do people not care about what they put into our land? We are making stuff the wrong way. It should give back to our environment (just as nature does) when it comes to the end of its useful life. That system change won’t happen in my lifetime. so much stuff about to be buried.
i sAW /
Red bulldozer – reverse, forward, scoop, crush, drop. Reverse, forward, scoop, crush, drop. Reverse, forward, scoop, crush, drop. Reverse, forward, scoop, crush, drop. Reverse, forward, scoop, crush, drop. lorry, dirt, dropped. Egg carton. mound is built by rubbish. Trucks. Household stuff. Trailers. orange truck. Green truck. Friendly people. orange vests. sun shining. yellow truck, soil, loop, up, down hill. banana box stuck in truck wheel. dust in the eyes. seagulls circling overhead. stuff, stuff, stuff. Hazchem signs everywhere. Hills strewn with plastic bags. Plastic flying everywhere.
41/60
i wonder what sort of toxic soup i am leaving behind me.
Age / 30 – 39
gender / female
occupAtion / hOuseWIfe
Where / NeWtOWN
Banana skin / organic
Estimated time to breakdown / 30 years Toxins released / methane
pasta sauce Bottle / glass
Estimated time to breakdown / never Toxins released / none
plastic shopping Bag / plastic
Estimated time to breakdown / 30 years Toxins released / methane
tin spaghetti / Metal
Estimated time to breakdown / 100 years Toxins released / metals
toilet paper roll / paper & cardBoard
Estimated time to breakdown / 70+ years? Toxins released / methane / carbon dioxide
biodegradation is a process that occurs all around us–effortlessly, it would seem – and the kinds of organic materials that end up in landfills are certainly capable of undergoing this process.
However, biodegradation works most efficiently under composting conditions, when the waste is chopped up, regularly turned, kept wet, and exposed to oxygen. These conditions are not met in modern landfills. The rubbish stays where it has been dumped, tightly compacted and largely intact. This deprives it of air, light and water which significantly slows the breakdown process of the discarded waste.
The rate of biodegradation also depends on what the disposed item has been compacted alongside of. For this reason it is hard to know just how long certain materials take to break down. To the right are indicative examples of how long certain materials could take to biodegrade, if in fact they ever do, in modern landfills.
/ Murphy, C., & Rathje, W.,1992, p.110 /
mummification not biodegradation
43/60
44/60
it felt strangeand wrong.
Age / 31 – 40
gender / male
occupAtion / fIlm techNIcIaN
Where / NeWtOWN
I was working on a short film and the location was the Happy valley landfill. It was near the end of a cold, hard and tiring day and after finishing my much needed cup of coffee, I went to dispose of the cup. normally on a film set, a rubbish bin is one of the first things to appear on a new location– which this was – but I could not see one. I walked around for probably five minutes searching for one before I realised that the location was the rubbish bin and the rubbish bin was the location.
I threw the cup on the ground. It felt strange and wrong.
why do i need permission to photograph at the dump?busy / reversing / hi vis / in the way / trailer / sweeP / dumP
46/60
Who / me
WhAt / rubbIsh at the laNdfIll
When / tuesday 9 august
Where / happy valley, WgtN
Why / tO NOtIce
I soon learnt that it is not acceptable to take photos of other people’s rubbish at the landfill. I was asked if I had permission. I promptly stopped taking photos that day. The next week I returned after having gained permission from the Wellington city council. I was accompanied by my contact at the landfill.
/ shoe / cd/ banana box/ blue
47/60
/ into sight into mind
/ PaPer/ cardboard/ glass / metal/ Plastic/ land
peanut slab gummies weekends
I’d go with my pop and we’d have our gummies on and the stench was unbelievable and yet, at the same time, somehow alluring – you didn’t want to smell it but you couldn’t stop yourself taking deep breaths.
The seagulls were everywhere and there were huge machines trundling back and forth. I always wondered what would happen if we parked the car in the wrong place, but I guess we never did because it never got squashed as far as I can remember.
Age / 30 – 39
gender / male
occupAtion / lecturer
Where / NOrthlaNd
ute / I would always be excited to go to the dump with dad to ride in his work ute, which was the only times we would have it. seemed a novelty. The most memorable time would have been when we cut down our favourite tree that we would climb up and play in.
star Wars / I used to go to the tip with my dad all the time when I was young, and it was always a little scary, the bulldozers compressing the rubbish made me think of that scene in star Wars–terrifying. I was always careful never to get too close to the edge of the deep, dark pit.
blOkes / my best memory was watching my dad trying to back the trailer up to the edge in front of all of the ‘real kiwi blokes’. It had to be one of the most stressful experiences of my dad’s life.
tIme / I always went to the landfill with my dad–it was always fun because it was time with dad. I always looked forward to these sundays. He used to sometimes find some pretty weird stuff to bring home.
Who / WgtN resIdeNts
WhAt / ONlINe survey
When / JuNe – august, 2011
Where / WellINgtON
Why / tO NOtIce
Through an online survey I asked 100 Wellington residents if they could share any landfill memories with me. I was touched by the number of fond memories people had of special time spent at the tip with their dad.
mEmoRIEs /
50/60
/ chaotic / day triP / novelty/ sunday
/04/ Nitty gritty
/what now?/how?
52/60
/04/ Nitty gritty
It hurts my heart to see the amount of rubbish that goes into landfill. mostly I have seen these images on Tv. It makes me feel sick but do I change what I do in my day to day life to help this? no not nearly as much as I should! I do recycle and compost but not as well as I really should!
Age / 20 – 29
gender / female
occupAtion / mOther
Where / paraparaumu
/ rubbish / a life-long commitment
53/60
i harbour a deep scepticism.
Age / 30 – 39
gender / male
occupAtion / cOmms maNager
Where / avalON
/ i SuSpEct it ENdS up iN a laNdfill iN
tHE pHilippiNES witH local tip-dwEllErS
crawliNg tHrougH it /
REcyclInG /
54/60
thOughts /
/ What are the health effects of sleeping on a pillow that is made of recycled plastics? Were these plastics produced with the intention of having human heads on them for up to 8 hours a night? What chemicals are we inhaling while we sleep? /
/ Just like many NZ-made products such as wine, cheese and meat, much of our recyclable materials are sold and shipped to other countries. These may be countries that produce little of their own virgin paper or countries that require greater paper or plastic materials for mass production /
/ Recycling is better than locking it in the land. Surely recycling can only improve, locked in the land can only be locked in the land. I don’t want landfill encroaching into my neighbourhood /
/ Remember that there are human beings sorting our recycling at the other end. Make sure you clean it well and don’t place non-recyclable items into your recycling bins /
/ I think it is important always to question whether something really has to go to the landfill or if it can be recycled somewhere. Ask around, you may be surprised at what you find out. Old sneakers, for instance, can be recycled into running tracks. Just take them along to any Rebel Sport store, and put them into one of the recycling bins they provide /
Where dOes It gO? /
paper / auckland / korea / thailand /
philippines / bales of paper are sent to the carter Holt Harvey Penrose paper mill in Auckland, which produces 82,000 tonnes a year of corrugated cardboard.
of the paper that is exported, some goes to Korea to become tissue products, while newspaper and glossy paper can be sent to Thailand and the Philippines for recycling into newsprint. vietnam and Indonesia also take some cardboard for turning into corrugated cardboard.
cardBoard / tokoroa / VietnaM /
indonesia / cardboard is sent to the Kinleith paper mill in Tokoroa, where it is mixed with virgin pulp before the two are blended to make new sheets. It is also sent to vietnam and Indonesia where it is recycled into corrugated cardboard.
plastics / palMerston north / christchurch / hong kong / Plastic is not so commonly recycled in new Zealand, although a number of companies are trialling schemes which could see that change. The Environment ministry describes the plastic as being recycled into soft drink bottles, pillow and sleeping bag filling, and even speed bumps. A christchurch firm is turning milk bottles into plastic fragments which can be used for making items such as wheelie bins. bins made from recycled plastic can, for example, now contain up to 30 per cent recycled milk bottles.
Metals / auckland / metals are largely processed domestically, with steel tins being melted down in Auckland into items such as reinforcing rods – though aluminium is still sent overseas.
glass / auckland / asia / new Zealand’s large-scale glass recycler, o-I in Auckland, will only accept glass sorted as brown, clear and green. Recycled glass is rarely turned back in to what it once was. It is commonly crushed, for use in road aggregate.
/ Dominion Post /
Wellington residents who dutifully put out their recycling bins or bags each week actually see very little of the process that follows. The haul is sent to a recycling plant at seaview, where it is emptied onto the floor before being fork-lifted onto a conveyor belt. There a chain of six to 10 people manually sort the items, with each responsible for pulling out a different material. sorted collections are then baled up and sent to various companies, both in new Zealand and overseas.
have questions about recycling?
/ Wgtn city council / 499 4444
Request to speak to someone who knows all the ins and outs about recycling.
live in an apartment that doesn’t recycle ?
/ Talk to the other tenants and raise awareness, get people on board.
/ As a group, inform the landlord that you would like to be able to recycle and explain the reasons why. you will then need to come to an agreement about how payment for the bin collection is arranged. bins + collection cost about $24 / month. The landlord may offer to pay 50% and the other 50% is divided between the tenants. or the landlord may cover the lot as he/she will be saving a lot due to the reduced amount of rubbish that will need to be collected for dumping at the landfill.
wHy SpENd MillioNS of dollarS EvEry yEar oN a waStE
of tiME, MoNEy aNd traNSport? i tHiNk tHat rEcycliNg
crEdibility iS a cHallENgE tHoSE workiNg iN tHE iNduStry
will alwayS bE facEd witH. ScEpticiSM iS a Natural
HuMaN bEHaviour. / Waste Minimisation and Education Manager / Wellington City Council /
55/60
SiMply by coMpoStiNg, you caN rEducE tHE rubbiSH
you tHrow out by 65%. tHat’S rEally MakiNg a diffErENcE! / Greater Wellington /
thOughts /
/ We could work together to assist those without yard space or a garden to be able to compost their organics through community wide composting schemes. Set one up in your neighbourhood! /
/ Live in an apartment block? Find out if your apartment building is eligible for a Kai to Compost collection bin or look into installing a garden and compost on the apartment building roof /
/ Does your workplace compost? Find out about setting up a compost unit on the building roof. Imagine all the tea bags, apple cores and coffee grounds that could be diverted from landfill! /
hOW tO cOmpOst /
step 1 / choose your site / compost bins or heaps should be located in a sheltered, level area of your garden that has good drainage and access. The site should ideally be within reach of a garden hose and preferably not in full sun. The compost heap should sit directly on the soil or a grass area.
step 2 / BeFore positioning the Bin /Turn over the soil with a garden fork or spade on the site to add drainage and encourage earthworms into the heap.
step 3 / starting the coMpost / To ensure good drainage and aeration try to start the heap with a 10cm - 15cm layer of coarse material such as tree clippings.
next, add a bucketful of greens (fruit, lawn clippings, vegetables) and a bucketful of browns (leaves, twigs, paper). Add water if the mixture appears dry as the compost needs to be moist. The heap should heat up and shrink after a few days.
step 4 / Maintaining the coMpost / continue to add green and brown material to the heap. The best compost is made from a 50/50 split of green and brown material. Keep the lid closed and let the compost mature. Keeping the lid on will also help to keep pests away.
For optimal results, turn the heap with a large garden spade or fork every few weeks to increase air circulation and regularly expose fresh material to insects and other living organisms.
step 5 / using the coMpost / It takes a while for compost to mature. It should take around three to four months if the compost is regularly turned. If the compost is not turned, it could take from nine months to a year.
Ideally the finished product should look like potting mix but your compost does not have to be perfect. As long as most of the material is broken down (egg shells will not completely disappear) and you have material with a soil like structure, your compost is ready to add to your or your neighbour’s garden.
/ Wellington City Council /
What caN yOu cOmpOst /
greens + Browns + water + air
/ greens / high in nitrogen /
/ vegetable scraps / Fruit scraps / coffee grounds & filters / Tea leaves & bags / lawn clippings / Plant clippings / Flowers
/ Browns / high in carBon /
/ small tree clippings / dried leaves / straw & untreated saw dust / shredded paper towels & tissues / shredded paper & cardboard / Egg shells / breads, grains & pasta
want to buy a compost bin?
/ berhampore nursery / 389 9729 or / second Treasure shop / 383 4438
encourage others to compost
Encourage your university, school, local cafe or restaurant to compost through Kai to compost, a Wellington service that collects organic waste for composting:
Find out more
/ www.wellington.govt.nz /
56/60
feed the worms– i like the buggers!
Age / 40 – 49
gender / male
occupAtion / self emplOyed
Where / WellINgtON cIty
comPosTInG /
57/60
that would look awesome on my bike!
REusInG /
Age / 20 – 29
gender / male
occupAtion / ?
Where / Observed at WgtN laNdfIll
58/60
thOughts /
/ I always enjoy the challenge of reusing used items. It is certainly an effective way of saving money. It can take a bit more effort but I think New Zealand’s natural environment is well worth it /
/ Why throw a plastic bag out when it can easily be washed or rinsed and used again? /
/ We don’t always need new /
/ Set yourself a challenge to see how many rubbish items you can find a second use for /
REFEREncEs /
chug, K. (2011). Where does Wellington’s recycling go? Retrieved may 24, 2011, from www.stuff.co.nz
Greater Wellington (2011). Retrieved July 12, 2011, from www.gw.govt.nz
ministry for the Environment (2011). Retrieved march 26, 2011, from www.mfe.govt.nz
murphy, c., & Rathje, W. (1992). Rubbish. new york: Harpercollins Publishers Inc.
Why coffee lovers are polluting nZ landfills (2010). Retrieved August 14, 2011, from www.3news.co.nz
oxford English dictionary (2003). Retrieved July 18, 2011, from www.oed.com
Thompson, m. (1979). Rubbish Theory. oxford, England: oxford university Press.
Wellington city council (2011) Retrieved June 3, 2011, from www.wellington.govt.nz
hOW abOut /
Donate / swap / sell / donate, swap or sell items like old toys, clothing, furniture, sports gear, books etc. There are plenty of second hand shops and support organisations eager for stock who may take things off your hands or even pay you for them. A garage sale is always fun and sometimes schools or crèches need art resources or learning toys.
LandfiLL stores / Take reusable items like household goods and demolition materials to second Treasures (southern landfill, Wellington city) or Trash Palace (spicer landfill, Porirua). They specialise in collecting, processing and re-selling items and help stop the large volumes of reusable material that is ending up in our landfills.
schools / your local school or early childhood centre may be able to use things like paper printed on one side only, plastic bottles, yoghurt pottles, boxes, cotton reels even tins of paint. Give them a call and ask.
reuse / use glass jars, tins and plastic containers for storage around the home or in your garage or workshop.
spca / The sPcA and pet shops often need more supplies of old newspapers.
paint / The black trays meat comes in make great paint trays.
gardening / Enjoy gardening? cartons, plastic containers, even old shoes and boots are very practical for planting seedlings. use the aluminium foil trays from pies and cakes as drip catchers under pot plants.
get creative / come up with your own ways of reusing materials before throwing them out.
/ Greater Wellington /
The strategy of buying used items is employed by some to save money, as they are typically worth less than the equivalent new items. Purchasing used items for reuse prevents them from becoming waste and saves costly production of equivalent new goods. motivating factors for purchase include conserving natural resources and protecting the environment, and may form part of a simple living plan.
give new life to old clothes
get a little cash back / recycle boutique / vivian st /
get a lot of cash back / ziggurat / 144 cuba st /
give love / salvation army store / taranaki st / give new life to old books
get a little or a lot of cash back / arty bees / manners st
give love / salvation army store / taranaki st /
get creative / upcycle to something shiny and new /
rEuSiNg tHiNgS ratHEr tHaN tHrowiNg tHEM away
iS a SiMplE way to rEducE rubbiSH, protEct our
rEgioN’S ENviroNMENt aNd SavE yourSElf MoNEy! / Greater Wellington /
59/60
we have a garden and a compost bin, i’m not a greeny but i do have concerns about rubbish and decomposition / i wish there wasn’t so much extra packaging on stuff, it’s totally unnecessary / there definitely should be less of it. i saw at the mill liquor store signs for re-fill your own beer. i got excited thinking they might have apple cider as well, but they don’t / i don’t like it when people litter, unless it’s biodegradable / rubbish bags should be less expensive. and if they are going to increase the cost, the councils should at least not be making the bags thinner and lesser quality / it’s a shame there aren’t more landfills around & places like the tip shop in wellington/ashburton, where people can find cool old things ‘one person’s trash is another person’s treasure’ and all that jazz / it makes me feel really sick when i think about how much rubbish i produce every day / i think about it most days, and try not to buy things which have ridiculous amounts of packaging, like those small bags of chips, which come in another bigger bag / i try not to use things like glad wrap too much. i wish it was recyclable! but in the end i don’t really change too much of my practices due to inconveniences / i don’t have a garden where i can grow all my fruit and vegetables, so i have to buy them pre-wrapped / i’m always struck by the vast amount of rubbish that people create and i think people must do a pretty good job of hiding it out of sight. maybe the world would be a better place if we all followed the italians’ lead and stopped collecting the rubbish so that people actually stop and think about rubbish because it’s piled a story high on the street / i don’t know why people are so happy to throw stuff away but i do know that it’s one of the most significant ways that we are choking our earth / i am really concerned with there being too much waste / smells / recycling is fun, i just started recycling when i started flatting / hate taking rubbish out / bins in public areas are disgusting / society today is more concerned about making things appear ordered, attractive and compact even if it is at the expense of the environment with respect to discarding old rubbish, wrapping and packaging in plastic bags, and other storage devices. also people are more inclined to discard than pass on or reuse. also the need to upgrade and improve or replace old items that are otherwise in working order simply for fashion’s sake also adds to more rubbish created / we throw out way too much stuff! and there is way too much stuff like packaging which is only ever going to be rubbish / i’d rather not think about it to be honest / i think of it as dirty and gross and smelly and something i just want to get rid of so i don’t have to think about it again / it smells? no um, sorry / it hurts my heart to see the amount of rubbish that goes into landfill, mostly i have seen these images on tv. it makes me feel sick to see it. but do i change what i do in my day to day life to help this??? no not nearly as much as i should!! i do recycle and compost but not as well as i really should! / too much unnecessary packing everywhere! / i was in lower hutt on the weekend and saw these rubbish bins with cool paintings on them, thought it was a good way to attract people to the rubbish bin and do the right thing / new zealand is known as being such a clean green place but in august last year i went to the gold coast for a holiday and couldn’t believe how little rubbish there was around the streets. i never thought it would be something that i would notice, but it was very evident / i hate how much rubbish our flat produces. it makes me feel guilty. we try and cut down on buying products with packaging that is non-recyclable but there are so many products you can’t avoid it with. it’s unnecessary, most can be reused. street rubbish is just plain lazy / do wonder where it goes. and if it is safe to be just dumping it at a tip where it gets buried / it’s bad that our products have so much packaging that can’t be reused / i think a lot of things are thrown away that could be reused / smelly, dirty, sticky, avoid when possible / it’s a massive problem especially plastic bottles / i constantly have about 5 empty coke or water bottles in my room and i am only one person / as for the other rubbish i feel guilty throwing so much away but i’m so disconnected from where it ends up that i sort of don’t think about it. out of sight out of mind / it is endless, especially envelopes / actually i was just thinking how we so often perceive rubbish as dirty, filthy or unclean. but because of the methods in which packaging is created, in reality most of it, or some of it, is probably quite clean and sterile / n/a / more of it should be recycled / there is too much plastic! / hate having to throw out things that still work because no-one will use or need anymore / i dislike packaging, especially on fruit or already disposable items (like pens wrapped in cardboard and plastic) / love composting / i harbour a deep scepticism that the recycling we put out actually gets recycled. i suspect it ends up in a landfill in the Philippines with local tip-dwellers crawling through it / i notice that most of our recycling material is packaging. i would like to know how it is processed after collection as i am not convinced much of it actually is recycled / i often feel sick at the amount of waste produced by our society and even by my own wasteful use of resources. today i even encounter systematic waste generating behaviour. at a restaurant, the waiter was surprised that i did not want a complimentary glass of water. he kept pushing even after i told him that i had a drink bottle. he left and came back with a glass of iced water with a plastic straw, telling me that he would get in trouble if he was seen not be trying to sell me a drink / most supermarkets are evel knievel about the amount of packaging they allow, or actually encourage the use of (e.g. often fruit and vege on special are sold in plastic bags), and Pak ‘n save seems to be the naughtiest of all, having replaced their shopping baskets with shopping bags, they seem to have made the paying for shopping bags into a money-making venture where, perversely, they encourage people to use plastic bags. commonsense organics gets a thumbs up for the many ways they minimise packaging and the use of plastic bags / lately, just the insane amount of rubbish that seems to be created by humans. the pointless packaging i see in shops and supermarkets, and how i can do my bit to reduce it / i wish there wasn’t so much wasteful packaging / we should probably tax rubbish to encourage people to be less wasteful / guilt / it’s annoying when your rubbish bag isn’t collected by the council (because they forgot to collect it) and then animals attack the bag spreading it across the footpath and street. who has to clean it up? me / just a background thing to empty occasionally, and something i also am often conscious of how much we create and trying to minimise it / i try to reduce as much as possible. someone’s rubbish is someone else’s treasure / i love recycling / we produce too much and there is too much packaging on food / it would be great to not produce so much. what impact is all of this rubbish having on the environment? / i hate it when people litter / i like to recycle where i can and buy reusable products where possible / i just can’t believe how much there is, and that we’re not already drowning in it (it can’t be long before that happens) / we produce so much stuff. all of us. every single moment of every day. so much rubbish / it is great recycling is mainstream, shame that there aren’t many recycling places in the inner city or in suburbs / at the moment i was thinking of how i have to carry down the rubbish bags from the top of our house, down 165 steps to the roadside. i carried four bags down this morning. extraordinary how much more rubbish we seem to be producing now we have a little boy around the house! / we have far too much packaging. i wish they would bring bottle milk back / one person’s rubbish is another person’s treasure. bring on more recycling, freecycling and upcycling / i think it’s important to reuse and recycle, and produce energy using trash / i think we need to keep trash out of the ocean / i like to buy old things not to be retro and cool, but because if something was made years ago and i can get more use out of it, it might in some wee way slow down the production of more new things when the old ones will do / i hate it. i hate that we have all these materials that won’t break down / i don’t like that we have eco options, because everything should be eco full stoP / it’s so retarded that disposable nappies don’t break down, it’s completely counter productive that toothbrushes won’t really breakdown / we should all compost and all takeaway cups should be bio ware. grr / i always feel a bit guilty when throwing out a nappy / i enjoy that there is free recycling in my area / i like to get rid of it, ideally by composting, recycling or donating before sending to the landfill / i am trying hard to get down the amount that goes out into the bag for the council collection, first because the bags cost a small fortune, but i am aware that we are producing a lot of rubbish for a small household / i think we could still be a bit more responsible with the way we throw out rubbish. consider the environment and the other creatures that we share this planet with / the oceans are becoming clogged with plastic. it is a tragedy that is becoming epidemic in scale. needs to be taken very seriously / i’m amazed at how much i produce / i wonder about all that crap that’s just been covered over at the landfill, how much breaks down and how much just sits there / recycling is good / some of the worst rubbish is invisible... toxic emissions from cars and so on / the wgtn council’s new system seems to work well / there is too much of it on our streets, and this is not helped by all the inconsiderate smokers who add to it with their cigarette butts / the wcc recycling system is now all skewed. we have a lot of paper, cans and plastic and over two weeks we use more than one bag. our glass use is minimal and our green bin is mostly empty / rubbish bins rather then bags need to be available citywide irrespective of perceived difficulty of access as often there is very little difficulty / we chuck out too much / we have too many plastic packages with our food / the amount of it has escalated heaps since i was a kid i reckon / even in an aware urban city there are plenty of reasons why people do not bother / i like the way we are trying to harness methane at the dump / there’s too much, it’s in everything, coke bottles, packs of food, a memory card, it could all be changed, but it would take a massive shift in our collective thinking... or maybe a return to proper accounting / most likely when we finally realize that oil economies are the root of all this waste, we should evolve into something better / after reading ‘cradle to cradle’ i realized there is a better way to manufacture things and to consume. the tenet is that there is no such thing as rubbish, everything should be reusable or biodegradable. it’s all about changing the methods of production. corn-based plastics are a good example of this / i worry about how much plastic crap there is in the world and how we discard things when they’re broken rather than trying to mend them / i think about big organisations like apple who constantly upgrade their products and create a massive amount of waste as a consequence / negative: we generate too much, positive: it’s beautiful (at times) to photograph / we are using resources faster than they can be replenished and we are creating waste greater than we can integrate. outlook?... we are the generation that is likely to starve to death in our own toxic waste / need to create an economic alternative to transporting to landfills / should be some way to deal with using garbage to create energy / we need to consider each and every article of rubbish to check if it may be recycled in some way before dumping at a landfill / take responsibility for recycling, more teaching about compost and recycling / we need to find a way to cut down on excess rubbish–reducing packaging would be a good start / recycling with the new wgtn system makes recycling easy and gives a feel good factor... helping to our do our bit / we have far too much of it / i would like to see a lot less packaging, and do approve of the reusable supermarket bags we use / we compost our organic rubbish, which i feel is more eco way to deal with it / we do separate recyclable from non-recyclable rubbish / if everyone had a reusable coffee cup world-wide, just imagine how many paper cups would not be needed (having realised this i got a reusable cup) / a necessary evil of our throw-away society / we make so much / everything seems to be in plastic or a fancy carton / i can’t imagine how much, say, wellington makes in one day. and that’s only wellington / i think that reusing is great–for example, it’s a no-brainer to give clothes and things you no longer need, to the sallies–i hope everyone does this. i’m pretty sure people do / i feel guilty about how many nappies we use (disposable) / i feel that when we eat food that does not come out of a packet–eg veges and fruit, that it’s ‘right’ as it doesn’t make rubbish / i feel really cross when i see
we have a garden and a compost bin, i’m not a greeny but i do have concerns about rubbish and decomposition / i wish there wasn’t so much extra packaging on stuff, it’s totally unnecessary / there definitely should be less of it. i saw at the mill liquor store signs for re-fill your own beer. i got excited thinking they might have apple cider as well, but they don’t / i don’t like it when people litter, unless it’s biodegradable / rubbish bags should be less expensive. and if they are going to increase the cost, the councils should at least not be making the bags thinner and lesser quality / it’s a shame there aren’t more landfills around & places like the tip shop in wellington/ashburton, where people can find cool old things ‘one person’s trash is another person’s treasure’ and all that jazz / it makes me feel really sick when i think about how much rubbish i produce every day / i think about it most days, and try not to buy things which have ridiculous amounts of packaging, like those small bags of chips, which come in another bigger bag / i try not to use things like glad wrap too much. i wish it was recyclable! but in the end i don’t really change too much of my practices due to inconveniences / i don’t have a garden where i can grow all my fruit and vegetables, so i have to buy them pre-wrapped / i’m always struck by the vast amount of rubbish that people create and i think people must do a pretty good job of hiding it out of sight. maybe the world would be a better place if we all followed the italians’ lead and stopped collecting the rubbish so that people actually stop and think about rubbish because it’s piled a story high on the street / i don’t know why people are so happy to throw stuff away but i do know that it’s one of the most significant ways that we are choking our earth / i am really concerned with there being too much waste / smells / recycling is fun, i just started recycling when i started flatting / hate taking rubbish out / bins in public areas are disgusting / society today is more concerned about making things appear ordered, attractive and compact even if it is at the expense of the environment with respect to discarding old rubbish, wrapping and packaging in plastic bags, and other storage devices. also people are more inclined to discard than pass on or reuse. also the need to upgrade and improve or replace old items that are otherwise in working order simply for fashion’s sake also adds to more rubbish created / we throw out way too much stuff! and there is way too much stuff like packaging which is only ever going to be rubbish / i’d rather not think about it to be honest / i think of it as dirty and gross and smelly and something i just want to get rid of so i don’t have to think about it again / it smells? no um, sorry / it hurts my heart to see the amount of rubbish that goes into landfill, mostly i have seen these images on tv. it makes me feel sick to see it. but do i change what i do in my day to day life to help this??? no not nearly as much as i should!! i do recycle and compost but not as well as i really should! / too much unnecessary packing everywhere! / i was in lower hutt on the weekend and saw these rubbish bins with cool paintings on them, thought it was a good way to attract people to the rubbish bin and do the right thing / new zealand is known as being such a clean green place but in august last year i went to the gold coast for a holiday and couldn’t believe how little rubbish there was around the streets. i never thought it would be something that i would notice, but it was very evident / i hate how much rubbish our flat produces. it makes me feel guilty. we try and cut down on buying products with packaging that is non-recyclable but there are so many products you can’t avoid it with. it’s unnecessary, most can be reused. street rubbish is just plain lazy / do wonder where it goes. and if it is safe to be just dumping it at a tip where it gets buried / it’s bad that our products have so much packaging that can’t be reused / i think a lot of things are thrown away that could be reused / smelly, dirty, sticky, avoid when possible / it’s a massive problem especially plastic bottles / i constantly have about 5 empty coke or water bottles in my room and i am only one person / as for the other rubbish i feel guilty throwing so much away but i’m so disconnected from where it ends up that i sort of don’t think about it. out of sight out of mind / it is endless, especially envelopes / actually i was just thinking how we so often perceive rubbish as dirty, filthy or unclean. but because of the methods in which packaging is created, in reality most of it, or some of it, is probably quite clean and sterile / n/a / more of it should be recycled / there is too much plastic! / hate having to throw out things that still work because no-one will use or need anymore / i dislike packaging, especially on fruit or already disposable items (like pens wrapped in cardboard and plastic) / love composting / i harbour a deep scepticism that the recycling we put out actually gets recycled. i suspect it ends up in a landfill in the Philippines with local tip-dwellers crawling through it / i notice that most of our recycling material is packaging. i would like to know how it is processed after collection as i am not convinced much of it actually is recycled / i often feel sick at the amount of waste produced by our society and even by my own wasteful use of resources. today i even encounter systematic waste generating behaviour. at a restaurant, the waiter was surprised that i did not want a complimentary glass of water. he kept pushing even after i told him that i had a drink bottle. he left and came back with a glass of iced water with a plastic straw, telling me that he would get in trouble if he was seen not be trying to sell me a drink / most supermarkets are evel knievel about the amount of packaging they allow, or actually encourage the use of (e.g. often fruit and vege on special are sold in plastic bags), and Pak ‘n save seems to be the naughtiest of all, having replaced their shopping baskets with shopping bags, they seem to have made the paying for shopping bags into a money-making venture where, perversely, they encourage people to use plastic bags. commonsense organics gets a thumbs up for the many ways they minimise packaging and the use of plastic bags / lately, just the insane amount of rubbish that seems to be created by humans. the pointless packaging i see in shops and supermarkets, and how i can do my bit to reduce it / i wish there wasn’t so much wasteful packaging / we should probably tax rubbish to encourage people to be less wasteful / guilt / it’s annoying when your rubbish bag isn’t collected by the council (because they forgot to collect it) and then animals attack the bag spreading it across the footpath and street. who has to clean it up? me / just a background thing to empty occasionally, and something i also am often conscious of how much we create and trying to minimise it / i try to reduce as much as possible. someone’s rubbish is someone else’s treasure / i love recycling / we produce too much and there is too much packaging on food / it would be great to not produce so much. what impact is all of this rubbish having on the environment? / i hate it when people litter / i like to recycle where i can and buy reusable products where possible / i just can’t believe how much there is, and that we’re not already drowning in it (it can’t be long before that happens) / we produce so much stuff. all of us. every single moment of every day. so much rubbish / it is great recycling is mainstream, shame that there aren’t many recycling places in the inner city or in suburbs / at the moment i was thinking of how i have to carry down the rubbish bags from the top of our house, down 165 steps to the roadside. i carried four bags down this morning. extraordinary how much more rubbish we seem to be producing now we have a little boy around the house! / we have far too much packaging. i wish they would bring bottle milk back / one person’s rubbish is another person’s treasure. bring on more recycling, freecycling and upcycling / i think it’s important to reuse and recycle, and produce energy using trash / i think we need to keep trash out of the ocean / i like to buy old things not to be retro and cool, but because if something was made years ago and i can get more use out of it, it might in some wee way slow down the production of more new things when the old ones will do / i hate it. i hate that we have all these materials that won’t break down / i don’t like that we have eco options, because everything should be eco full stoP / it’s so retarded that disposable nappies don’t break down, it’s completely counter productive that toothbrushes won’t really breakdown / we should all compost and all takeaway cups should be bio ware. grr / i always feel a bit guilty when throwing out a nappy / i enjoy that there is free recycling in my area / i like to get rid of it, ideally by composting, recycling or donating before sending to the landfill / i am trying hard to get down the amount that goes out into the bag for the council collection, first because the bags cost a small fortune, but i am aware that we are producing a lot of rubbish for a small household / i think we could still be a bit more responsible with the way we throw out rubbish. consider the environment and the other creatures that we share this planet with / the oceans are becoming clogged with plastic. it is a tragedy that is becoming epidemic in scale. needs to be taken very seriously / i’m amazed at how much i produce / i wonder about all that crap that’s just been covered over at the landfill, how much breaks down and how much just sits there / recycling is good / some of the worst rubbish is invisible... toxic emissions from cars and so on / the wgtn council’s new system seems to work well / there is too much of it on our streets, and this is not helped by all the inconsiderate smokers who add to it with their cigarette butts / the wcc recycling system is now all skewed. we have a lot of paper, cans and plastic and over two weeks we use more than one bag. our glass use is minimal and our green bin is mostly empty / rubbish bins rather then bags need to be available citywide irrespective of perceived difficulty of access as often there is very little difficulty / we chuck out too much / we have too many plastic packages with our food / the amount of it has escalated heaps since i was a kid i reckon / even in an aware urban city there are plenty of reasons why people do not bother / i like the way we are trying to harness methane at the dump / there’s too much, it’s in everything, coke bottles, packs of food, a memory card, it could all be changed, but it would take a massive shift in our collective thinking... or maybe a return to proper accounting / most likely when we finally realize that oil economies are the root of all this waste, we should evolve into something better / after reading ‘cradle to cradle’ i realized there is a better way to manufacture things and to consume. the tenet is that there is no such thing as rubbish, everything should be reusable or biodegradable. it’s all about changing the methods of production. corn-based plastics are a good example of this / i worry about how much plastic crap there is in the world and how we discard things when they’re broken rather than trying to mend them / i think about big organisations like apple who constantly upgrade their products and create a massive amount of waste as a consequence / negative: we generate too much, positive: it’s beautiful (at times) to photograph / we are using resources faster than they can be replenished and we are creating waste greater than we can integrate. outlook?... we are the generation that is likely to starve to death in our own toxic waste / need to create an economic alternative to transporting to landfills / should be some way to deal with using garbage to create energy / we need to consider each and every article of rubbish to check if it may be recycled in some way before dumping at a landfill / take responsibility for recycling, more teaching about compost and recycling / we need to find a way to cut down on excess rubbish–reducing packaging would be a good start / recycling with the new wgtn system makes recycling easy and gives a feel good factor... helping to our do our bit / we have far too much of it / i would like to see a lot less packaging, and do approve of the reusable supermarket bags we use / we compost our organic rubbish, which i feel is more eco way to deal with it / we do separate recyclable from non-recyclable rubbish / if everyone had a reusable coffee cup world-wide, just imagine how many paper cups would not be needed (having realised this i got a reusable cup) / a necessary evil of our throw-away society / we make so much / everything seems to be in plastic or a fancy carton / i can’t imagine how much, say, wellington makes in one day. and that’s only wellington / i think that reusing is great–for example, it’s a no-brainer to give clothes and things you no longer need, to the sallies–i hope everyone does this. i’m pretty sure people do / i feel guilty about how many nappies we use (disposable) / i feel that when we eat food that does not come out of a packet–eg veges and fruit, that it’s ‘right’ as it doesn’t make rubbish / i feel really cross when i see
too much rubbish not enough nature.
we have a garden and a compost bin, i’m not a greeny but i do have concerns about rubbish and decomposition / i wish there wasn’t so much extra packaging on stuff, it’s totally unnecessary / there definitely should be less of it. i saw at the mill liquor store signs for re-fill your own beer. i got excited thinking they might have apple cider as well, but they don’t / i don’t like it when people litter, unless it’s biodegradable / rubbish bags should be less expensive. and if they are going to increase the cost, the councils should at least not be making the bags thinner and lesser quality / it’s a shame there aren’t more landfills around & places like the tip shop in wellington/ashburton, where people can find cool old things ‘one person’s trash is another person’s treasure’ and all that jazz / it makes me feel really sick when i think about how much rubbish i produce every day / i think about it most days, and try not to buy things which have ridiculous amounts of packaging, like those small bags of chips, which come in another bigger bag / i try not to use things like glad wrap too much. i wish it was recyclable! but in the end i don’t really change too much of my practices due to inconveniences / i don’t have a garden where i can grow all my fruit and vegetables, so i have to buy them pre-wrapped / i’m always struck by the vast amount of rubbish that people create and i think people must do a pretty good job of hiding it out of sight. maybe the world would be a better place if we all followed the italians’ lead and stopped collecting the rubbish so that people actually stop and think about rubbish because it’s piled a story high on the street / i don’t know why people are so happy to throw stuff away but i do know that it’s one of the most significant ways that we are choking our earth / i am really concerned with there being too much waste / smells / recycling is fun, i just started recycling when i started flatting / hate taking rubbish out / bins in public areas are disgusting / society today is more concerned about making things appear ordered, attractive and compact even if it is at the expense of the environment with respect to discarding old rubbish, wrapping and packaging in plastic bags, and other storage devices. also people are more inclined to discard than pass on or reuse. also the need to upgrade and improve or replace old items that are otherwise in working order simply for fashion’s sake also adds to more rubbish created / we throw out way too much stuff! and there is way too much stuff like packaging which is only ever going to be rubbish / i’d rather not think about it to be honest / i think of it as dirty and gross and smelly and something i just want to get rid of so i don’t have to think about it again / it smells? no um, sorry / it hurts my heart to see the amount of rubbish that goes into landfill, mostly i have seen these images on tv. it makes me feel sick to see it. but do i change what i do in my day to day life to help this??? no not nearly as much as i should!! i do recycle and compost but not as well as i really should! / too much unnecessary packing everywhere! / i was in lower hutt on the weekend and saw these rubbish bins with cool paintings on them, thought it was a good way to attract people to the rubbish bin and do the right thing / new zealand is known as being such a clean green place but in august last year i went to the gold coast for a holiday and couldn’t believe how little rubbish there was around the streets. i never thought it would be something that i would notice, but it was very evident / i hate how much rubbish our flat produces. it makes me feel guilty. we try and cut down on buying products with packaging that is non-recyclable but there are so many products you can’t avoid it with. it’s unnecessary, most can be reused. street rubbish is just plain lazy / do wonder where it goes. and if it is safe to be just dumping it at a tip where it gets buried / it’s bad that our products have so much packaging that can’t be reused / i think a lot of things are thrown away that could be reused / smelly, dirty, sticky, avoid when possible / it’s a massive problem especially plastic bottles / i constantly have about 5 empty coke or water bottles in my room and i am only one person / as for the other rubbish i feel guilty throwing so much away but i’m so disconnected from where it ends up that i sort of don’t think about it. out of sight out of mind / it is endless, especially envelopes / actually i was just thinking how we so often perceive rubbish as dirty, filthy or unclean. but because of the methods in which packaging is created, in reality most of it, or some of it, is probably quite clean and sterile / n/a / more of it should be recycled / there is too much plastic! / hate having to throw out things that still work because no-one will use or need anymore / i dislike packaging, especially on fruit or already disposable items (like pens wrapped in cardboard and plastic) / love composting / i harbour a deep scepticism that the recycling we put out actually gets recycled. i suspect it ends up in a landfill in the Philippines with local tip-dwellers crawling through it / i notice that most of our recycling material is packaging. i would like to know how it is processed after collection as i am not convinced much of it actually is recycled / i often feel sick at the amount of waste produced by our society and even by my own wasteful use of resources. today i even encounter systematic waste generating behaviour. at a restaurant, the waiter was surprised that i did not want a complimentary glass of water. he kept pushing even after i told him that i had a drink bottle. he left and came back with a glass of iced water with a plastic straw, telling me that he would get in trouble if he was seen not be trying to sell me a drink / most supermarkets are evel knievel about the amount of packaging they allow, or actually encourage the use of (e.g. often fruit and vege on special are sold in plastic bags), and Pak ‘n save seems to be the naughtiest of all, having replaced their shopping baskets with shopping bags, they seem to have made the paying for shopping bags into a money-making venture where, perversely, they encourage people to use plastic bags. commonsense organics gets a thumbs up for the many ways they minimise packaging and the use of plastic bags / lately, just the insane amount of rubbish that seems to be created by humans. the pointless packaging i see in shops and supermarkets, and how i can do my bit to reduce it / i wish there wasn’t so much wasteful packaging / we should probably tax rubbish to encourage people to be less wasteful / guilt / it’s annoying when your rubbish bag isn’t collected by the council (because they forgot to collect it) and then animals attack the bag spreading it across the footpath and street. who has to clean it up? me / just a background thing to empty occasionally, and something i also am often conscious of how much we create and trying to minimise it / i try to reduce as much as possible. someone’s rubbish is someone else’s treasure / i love recycling / we produce too much and there is too much packaging on food / it would be great to not produce so much. what impact is all of this rubbish having on the environment? / i hate it when people litter / i like to recycle where i can and buy reusable products where possible / i just can’t believe how much there is, and that we’re not already drowning in it (it can’t be long before that happens) / we produce so much stuff. all of us. every single moment of every day. so much rubbish / it is great recycling is mainstream, shame that there aren’t many recycling places in the inner city or in suburbs / at the moment i was thinking of how i have to carry down the rubbish bags from the top of our house, down 165 steps to the roadside. i carried four bags down this morning. extraordinary how much more rubbish we seem to be producing now we have a little boy around the house! / we have far too much packaging. i wish they would bring bottle milk back / one person’s rubbish is another person’s treasure. bring on more recycling, freecycling and upcycling / i think it’s important to reuse and recycle, and produce energy using trash / i think we need to keep trash out of the ocean / i like to buy old things not to be retro and cool, but because if something was made years ago and i can get more use out of it, it might in some wee way slow down the production of more new things when the old ones will do / i hate it. i hate that we have all these materials that won’t break down / i don’t like that we have eco options, because everything should be eco full stoP / it’s so retarded that disposable nappies don’t break down, it’s completely counter productive that toothbrushes won’t really breakdown / we should all compost and all takeaway cups should be bio ware. grr / i always feel a bit guilty when throwing out a nappy / i enjoy that there is free recycling in my area / i like to get rid of it, ideally by composting, recycling or donating before sending to the landfill / i am trying hard to get down the amount that goes out into the bag for the council collection, first because the bags cost a small fortune, but i am aware that we are producing a lot of rubbish for a small household / i think we could still be a bit more responsible with the way we throw out rubbish. consider the environment and the other creatures that we share this planet with / the oceans are becoming clogged with plastic. it is a tragedy that is becoming epidemic in scale. needs to be taken very seriously / i’m amazed at how much i produce / i wonder about all that crap that’s just been covered over at the landfill, how much breaks down and how much just sits there / recycling is good / some of the worst rubbish is invisible... toxic emissions from cars and so on / the wgtn council’s new system seems to work well / there is too much of it on our streets, and this is not helped by all the inconsiderate smokers who add to it with their cigarette butts / the wcc recycling system is now all skewed. we have a lot of paper, cans and plastic and over two weeks we use more than one bag. our glass use is minimal and our green bin is mostly empty / rubbish bins rather then bags need to be available citywide irrespective of perceived difficulty of access as often there is very little difficulty / we chuck out too much / we have too many plastic packages with our food / the amount of it has escalated heaps since i was a kid i reckon / even in an aware urban city there are plenty of reasons why people do not bother / i like the way we are trying to harness methane at the dump / there’s too much, it’s in everything, coke bottles, packs of food, a memory card, it could all be changed, but it would take a massive shift in our collective thinking... or maybe a return to proper accounting / most likely when we finally realize that oil economies are the root of all this waste, we should evolve into something better / after reading ‘cradle to cradle’ i realized there is a better way to manufacture things and to consume. the tenet is that there is no such thing as rubbish, everything should be reusable or biodegradable. it’s all about changing the methods of production. corn-based plastics are a good example of this / i worry about how much plastic crap there is in the world and how we discard things when they’re broken rather than trying to mend them / i think about big organisations like apple who constantly upgrade their products and create a massive amount of waste as a consequence / negative: we generate too much, positive: it’s beautiful (at times) to photograph / we are using resources faster than they can be replenished and we are creating waste greater than we can integrate. outlook?... we are the generation that is likely to starve to death in our own toxic waste / need to create an economic alternative to transporting to landfills / should be some way to deal with using garbage to create energy / we need to consider each and every article of rubbish to check if it may be recycled in some way before dumping at a landfill / take responsibility for recycling, more teaching about compost and recycling / we need to find a way to cut down on excess rubbish–reducing packaging would be a good start / recycling with the new wgtn system makes recycling easy and gives a feel good factor... helping to our do our bit / we have far too much of it / i would like to see a lot less packaging, and do approve of the reusable supermarket bags we use / we compost our organic rubbish, which i feel is more eco way to deal with it / we do separate recyclable from non-recyclable rubbish / if everyone had a reusable coffee cup world-wide, just imagine how many paper cups would not be needed (having realised this i got a reusable cup) / a necessary evil of our throw-away society / we make so much / everything seems to be in plastic or a fancy carton / i can’t imagine how much, say, wellington makes in one day. and that’s only wellington / i think that reusing is great–for example, it’s a no-brainer to give clothes and things you no longer need, to the sallies–i hope everyone does this. i’m pretty sure people do / i feel guilty about how many nappies we use (disposable) / i feel that when we eat food that does not come out of a packet–eg veges and fruit, that it’s ‘right’ as it doesn’t make rubbish / i feel really cross when i see
we have a garden and a compost bin, i’m not a greeny but i do have concerns about rubbish and decomposition / i wish there wasn’t so much extra packaging on stuff, it’s totally unnecessary / there definitely should be less of it. i saw at the mill liquor store signs for re-fill your own beer. i got excited thinking they might have apple cider as well, but they don’t / i don’t like it when people litter, unless it’s biodegradable / rubbish bags should be less expensive. and if they are going to increase the cost, the councils should at least not be making the bags thinner and lesser quality / it’s a shame there aren’t more landfills around & places like the tip shop in wellington/ashburton, where people can find cool old things ‘one person’s trash is another person’s treasure’ and all that jazz / it makes me feel really sick when i think about how much rubbish i produce every day / i think about it most days, and try not to buy things which have ridiculous amounts of packaging, like those small bags of chips, which come in another bigger bag / i try not to use things like glad wrap too much. i wish it was recyclable! but in the end i don’t really change too much of my practices due to inconveniences / i don’t have a garden where i can grow all my fruit and vegetables, so i have to buy them pre-wrapped / i’m always struck by the vast amount of rubbish that people create and i think people must do a pretty good job of hiding it out of sight. maybe the world would be a better place if we all followed the italians’ lead and stopped collecting the rubbish so that people actually stop and think about rubbish because it’s piled a story high on the street / i don’t know why people are so happy to throw stuff away but i do know that it’s one of the most significant ways that we are choking our earth / i am really concerned with there being too much waste / smells / recycling is fun, i just started recycling when i started flatting / hate taking rubbish out / bins in public areas are disgusting / society today is more concerned about making things appear ordered, attractive and compact even if it is at the expense of the environment with respect to discarding old rubbish, wrapping and packaging in plastic bags, and other storage devices. also people are more inclined to discard than pass on or reuse. also the need to upgrade and improve or replace old items that are otherwise in working order simply for fashion’s sake also adds to more rubbish created / we throw out way too much stuff! and there is way too much stuff like packaging which is only ever going to be rubbish / i’d rather not think about it to be honest / i think of it as dirty and gross and smelly and something i just want to get rid of so i don’t have to think about it again / it smells? no um, sorry / it hurts my heart to see the amount of rubbish that goes into landfill, mostly i have seen these images on tv. it makes me feel sick to see it. but do i change what i do in my day to day life to help this??? no not nearly as much as i should!! i do recycle and compost but not as well as i really should! / too much unnecessary packing everywhere! / i was in lower hutt on the weekend and saw these rubbish bins with cool paintings on them, thought it was a good way to attract people to the rubbish bin and do the right thing / new zealand is known as being such a clean green place but in august last year i went to the gold coast for a holiday and couldn’t believe how little rubbish there was around the streets. i never thought it would be something that i would notice, but it was very evident / i hate how much rubbish our flat produces. it makes me feel guilty. we try and cut down on buying products with packaging that is non-recyclable but there are so many products you can’t avoid it with. it’s unnecessary, most can be reused. street rubbish is just plain lazy / do wonder where it goes. and if it is safe to be just dumping it at a tip where it gets buried / it’s bad that our products have so much packaging that can’t be reused / i think a lot of things are thrown away that could be reused / smelly, dirty, sticky, avoid when possible / it’s a massive problem especially plastic bottles / i constantly have about 5 empty coke or water bottles in my room and i am only one person / as for the other rubbish i feel guilty throwing so much away but i’m so disconnected from where it ends up that i sort of don’t think about it. out of sight out of mind / it is endless, especially envelopes / actually i was just thinking how we so often perceive rubbish as dirty, filthy or unclean. but because of the methods in which packaging is created, in reality most of it, or some of it, is probably quite clean and sterile / n/a / more of it should be recycled / there is too much plastic! / hate having to throw out things that still work because no-one will use or need anymore / i dislike packaging, especially on fruit or already disposable items (like pens wrapped in cardboard and plastic) / love composting / i harbour a deep scepticism that the recycling we put out actually gets recycled. i suspect it ends up in a landfill in the Philippines with local tip-dwellers crawling through it / i notice that most of our recycling material is packaging. i would like to know how it is processed after collection as i am not convinced much of it actually is recycled / i often feel sick at the amount of waste produced by our society and even by my own wasteful use of resources. today i even encounter systematic waste generating behaviour. at a restaurant, the waiter was surprised that i did not want a complimentary glass of water. he kept pushing even after i told him that i had a drink bottle. he left and came back with a glass of iced water with a plastic straw, telling me that he would get in trouble if he was seen not be trying to sell me a drink / most supermarkets are evel knievel about the amount of packaging they allow, or actually encourage the use of (e.g. often fruit and vege on special are sold in plastic bags), and Pak ‘n save seems to be the naughtiest of all, having replaced their shopping baskets with shopping bags, they seem to have made the paying for shopping bags into a money-making venture where, perversely, they encourage people to use plastic bags. commonsense organics gets a thumbs up for the many ways they minimise packaging and the use of plastic bags / lately, just the insane amount of rubbish that seems to be created by humans. the pointless packaging i see in shops and supermarkets, and how i can do my bit to reduce it / i wish there wasn’t so much wasteful packaging / we should probably tax rubbish to encourage people to be less wasteful / guilt / it’s annoying when your rubbish bag isn’t collected by the council (because they forgot to collect it) and then animals attack the bag spreading it across the footpath and street. who has to clean it up? me / just a background thing to empty occasionally, and something i also am often conscious of how much we create and trying to minimise it / i try to reduce as much as possible. someone’s rubbish is someone else’s treasure / i love recycling / we produce too much and there is too much packaging on food / it would be great to not produce so much. what impact is all of this rubbish having on the environment? / i hate it when people litter / i like to recycle where i can and buy reusable products where possible / i just can’t believe how much there is, and that we’re not already drowning in it (it can’t be long before that happens) / we produce so much stuff. all of us. every single moment of every day. so much rubbish / it is great recycling is mainstream, shame that there aren’t many recycling places in the inner city or in suburbs / at the moment i was thinking of how i have to carry down the rubbish bags from the top of our house, down 165 steps to the roadside. i carried four bags down this morning. extraordinary how much more rubbish we seem to be producing now we have a little boy around the house! / we have far too much packaging. i wish they would bring bottle milk back / one person’s rubbish is another person’s treasure. bring on more recycling, freecycling and upcycling / i think it’s important to reuse and recycle, and produce energy using trash / i think we need to keep trash out of the ocean / i like to buy old things not to be retro and cool, but because if something was made years ago and i can get more use out of it, it might in some wee way slow down the production of more new things when the old ones will do / i hate it. i hate that we have all these materials that won’t break down / i don’t like that we have eco options, because everything should be eco full stoP / it’s so retarded that disposable nappies don’t break down, it’s completely counter productive that toothbrushes won’t really breakdown / we should all compost and all takeaway cups should be bio ware. grr / i always feel a bit guilty when throwing out a nappy / i enjoy that there is free recycling in my area / i like to get rid of it, ideally by composting, recycling or donating before sending to the landfill / i am trying hard to get down the amount that goes out into the bag for the council collection, first because the bags cost a small fortune, but i am aware that we are producing a lot of rubbish for a small household / i think we could still be a bit more responsible with the way we throw out rubbish. consider the environment and the other creatures that we share this planet with / the oceans are becoming clogged with plastic. it is a tragedy that is becoming epidemic in scale. needs to be taken very seriously / i’m amazed at how much i produce / i wonder about all that crap that’s just been covered over at the landfill, how much breaks down and how much just sits there / recycling is good / some of the worst rubbish is invisible... toxic emissions from cars and so on / the wgtn council’s new system seems to work well / there is too much of it on our streets, and this is not helped by all the inconsiderate smokers who add to it with their cigarette butts / the wcc recycling system is now all skewed. we have a lot of paper, cans and plastic and over two weeks we use more than one bag. our glass use is minimal and our green bin is mostly empty / rubbish bins rather then bags need to be available citywide irrespective of perceived difficulty of access as often there is very little difficulty / we chuck out too much / we have too many plastic packages with our food / the amount of it has escalated heaps since i was a kid i reckon / even in an aware urban city there are plenty of reasons why people do not bother / i like the way we are trying to harness methane at the dump / there’s too much, it’s in everything, coke bottles, packs of food, a memory card, it could all be changed, but it would take a massive shift in our collective thinking... or maybe a return to proper accounting / most likely when we finally realize that oil economies are the root of all this waste, we should evolve into something better / after reading ‘cradle to cradle’ i realized there is a better way to manufacture things and to consume. the tenet is that there is no such thing as rubbish, everything should be reusable or biodegradable. it’s all about changing the methods of production. corn-based plastics are a good example of this / i worry about how much plastic crap there is in the world and how we discard things when they’re broken rather than trying to mend them / i think about big organisations like apple who constantly upgrade their products and create a massive amount of waste as a consequence / negative: we generate too much, positive: it’s beautiful (at times) to photograph / we are using resources faster than they can be replenished and we are creating waste greater than we can integrate. outlook?... we are the generation that is likely to starve to death in our own toxic waste / need to create an economic alternative to transporting to landfills / should be some way to deal with using garbage to create energy / we need to consider each and every article of rubbish to check if it may be recycled in some way before dumping at a landfill / take responsibility for recycling, more teaching about compost and recycling / we need to find a way to cut down on excess rubbish–reducing packaging would be a good start / recycling with the new wgtn system makes recycling easy and gives a feel good factor... helping to our do our bit / we have far too much of it / i would like to see a lot less packaging, and do approve of the reusable supermarket bags we use / we compost our organic rubbish, which i feel is more eco way to deal with it / we do separate recyclable from non-recyclable rubbish / if everyone had a reusable coffee cup world-wide, just imagine how many paper cups would not be needed (having realised this i got a reusable cup) / a necessary evil of our throw-away society / we make so much / everything seems to be in plastic or a fancy carton / i can’t imagine how much, say, wellington makes in one day. and that’s only wellington / i think that reusing is great–for example, it’s a no-brainer to give clothes and things you no longer need, to the sallies–i hope everyone does this. i’m pretty sure people do / i feel guilty about how many nappies we use (disposable) / i feel that when we eat food that does not come out of a packet–eg veges and fruit, that it’s ‘right’ as it doesn’t make rubbish / i feel really cross when i see
/ adam, 2011 /
