The second annual Freshkills Park haiku contest is over. Check out the winners of the adult and student categories over at their blog.
Author Archive
Freshkills Park announces haiku winner
Friday, May 14, 2010Donate pet hair to help clean up the oil spill
Friday, May 14, 2010I spotting this inhabitat post via unconsumption. Matter of Trust, a San Francisco-based nonprofit dedicated to repurposing existing goods to prevent excess consumption will take your dog or cat hair and send that superabsorbant stuff to the Gulf of Mexico to help clean up the oil spill. Rad.
photo via inhabitat
ScrapCycle(reUSE/reCOMBINE)
Friday, May 7, 2010Whoops, meant to alert the masses earlier on this one. The trash art extravaganza “ScrapCycle (reUSE/reCOMBINE)” opens tonight at Devotion Gallery in Williamsburg, Brooklyn.
Ari Tabei
For more on the opening, click here. For more on the group show, workshop and performances click here. Addmission to each event is a piece of trash, so you know it’s our kind of party. The show runs through May 30th.
Trashtastic Tuesday with Ryan Hicks
Tuesday, May 4, 2010This week we feature reflections from everydaytrash.com friend Ryan Hicks after running his first half marathon. Congrats to Ryan finishing in just a hair over two hours! We have side cramps just thinking about it.
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On Sunday, my brother Rob, his fiancée Alison and I ran our first half marathon in Vancouver, BC. While it was a fantastic experience which I’m sure we will all do again soon, as newcomers to this sport we had to marvel at the litterbug behavior on display.
Marathon trash
In general my impression of the typical runner is someone who is affluent, urban, progressive, and if not outright environmentally minded then certainly civically engaged. For example the typical runner would never consider littering during an everyday neighborhood training session, once in a crowd of 15,000 runners, all sense of personal responsibility gets thrown out the window. This was especially evident at every hydration station, where little plastic cups so thoroughly covered the street that Rob said “that’s not fortune cookies!” in his best Short Round accent. Elsewhere in the run you could find hundreds of discarded power gel packets and energy bar wrappers, despite there being a trash can every half-mile or so. Is it a sense of entitlement that you can’t hold on to your empty foil packet while you run a couple hundred feet to the trash can or is it a lack of personal responsibility that comes from being a part of such a large group? Even more surprising than the beverage and food containers were the discarded gloves, hats and outer layers of clothing that were frequently kicked aside during the run. Rumor has it that it’s a common practice for runners to buy a few outer layers at Good Will that are meant to be discarded mid-race.
On the bright side I was very impressed with Brita’s sponsorship of the festival, which meant zero plastic water bottles were available at hydration stations and at the start/finish lines. I also admired a used running shoe donation center. Considering that serious runners replace their shoes every year or so, a donation center makes great sense. I have two old pairs in the back of my closet that I would have gladly donated had I known about this program.
Arman’s poubelles
Sunday, April 25, 2010French artist Arman traveled between France and the US making incredible trash art for several decades before his death in 2005. A recurring theme in his work was the poubelle, or trash can.
Household trash in a glass box, 1959
Here’s a photo timeline of Arman’s poubelles, a must-click for anyone interested in trash art. A biography of the artist can be found here (check out the photo of his piece “Long Term Parking”) and a more general timeline of his life and work here. Thanks Rachel and Tamar for sharing these links. Super!
Fast Trash
Saturday, April 24, 2010A bunch of you have sent me updates about this exhibit: “Fast Trash: Roosevelt Island’s Pneumonic Tubes and the Future of Cities.” I have long been curious about the fabled trash tubes of NYC’s weirdest little island and can’t wait to check out the show as soon as I get home (yay tram!). If you’re in New York this month, it’s showing through May 23 at Gallery RIVAA on (where else) Main Street. Has anyone been yet? If so, do tell!
The Freshkills Park Blog has a comprehensive post here.
Lake Nakuru National Park, Kenya
Saturday, April 24, 2010
Lake Nakuru
Hello trashies. Excuse the sparse posting lately. I’ve been distracted by the ash cloud, which grounded me in Nairobi this past week (where I was passing though when the Icelandic volcano erupted). To change things up while waiting for my reservation out of town I took a bus to Nakuru where I spent the night at the Wildlife Club of Kenya Guesthouse inside Lake Nakuru National Park. After a serene night’s sleep, I went for an early game drive where I saw loads of white rhinos, herds of buffalo, a huge and beautiful pink horizon of flamingos, storks, pelicans and this eagle. And sadly, inside what should be a pristine environment: trash. Such as the yellow plastic bottle disrupting this scene. Sigh. On a positive note, my guide Bosco spends his off time in the low season volunteering for a local NGO that sorts local trash, picks up waste from the streets of Nakuru town and gives educational classes for neighbors on proper waste disposal and the importance of keeping our natural surroundings trash free. Go Bosco.
To bury or to burn?
Sunday, April 18, 2010Experts weigh in over at the nytimes.com blog Room for Debate on whether the US should burn or bury its trash.
Do drink the water
Saturday, April 10, 2010One of my favorite things about working in Ethiopia this week has been enjoying the lovely local mineral water. At home, I’m an advocate of tap water and DIY bubbles, but on the road when unknown organisms are a fear, it’s really nice to see water that is a) local, b) delicious and c) bottled in glass. Mmm, Ambo.
Ambo Water from Ethiopia
Consider this a second reminder to watch The Story of Bottled Water.
And to read Bottlemania: How Water Went on Sale and Why We Bought It.
Both gems.
Ethiopian trash murals
Sunday, April 4, 2010Spotted on the streets of Addis Ababa: this series of trash picking, street sweeping, public gardening and construction images.
Street sweeping
Dumpster
Dumpster
Raking
No home for hard plastic
Wednesday, March 31, 2010Scientific American reports that despite an increased interest in recycling plastic, most Americans have to hunt around for places that will take back hard plastic items like ski boots.
Ski boots - photo via bumps.com.au
Click through for a list of resources on where to recycle at the end of the post—handy for anyone getting rid of equipment as the ski season draws to a close.
Upcycled helicopter
Monday, March 29, 2010A team in Somaliland built this helipcopter out of scrap metal and an old van engine. AfriGadget has the scoop (and points out that there is no footage of the thing in flight). This new one isn’t as cool as the Nigerian one AfriGadget posted on a few years back, but is still pretty rad.
Cassette clearinghouse
Thursday, March 25, 2010Rob Walker has constructed a “monster post” on “The idea of the cassette” over at MURKETING. Go. Click through. Get lost. It’s rich and entertaining and full of creative upcycling and recycling project ideas.
Related: This summer Walker and co posted a series on music on unconsumption that also featured neat cassette-themed links. That series coincided with the immediate aftermath of the contested presidential elections in Iran and inspired this everydaytrash post on technology, human rights and creative resuse.
Semirelated: Awesome Tapes from Africa is a site worth following (the name says it all). I discovered it via my friend Erica. Thanks, Erica!
Not that related but also awesome: There is a kid on YouTube who calls himself CassetteMaster. He is obsessed with collecting vintage tape recorders and making videos about them. He has a bit of a cult following. I am trying hard not to get sucked in, but these videos kind of lull you into addiction. Especially ones involving other people interacting with the awkward CassetteMaster. Like all things to do with audio and the absurd, this link came to me via Flex Unger.
Dead Computers
Wednesday, March 24, 2010Check out the winners of Instructables’ Dead Computers Contest.
Crane game
I wish I had a dead computer so I could make my very own crane game. I’d charge 25 cents a go and use the money to fund trashtastic reporting field trips. via MAKE
The Story of Bottled Water
Monday, March 22, 2010Another gem from the creator of The Story of Stuff. via EcoLibris.
everydaytrash 
