BBC
Obsolete phonebooth turned library
Tuesday, December 29, 2009Middle East conflict trash
Tuesday, December 29, 2009
Sidon Garbage Dump
A dump that started with the rubble of the 1982 Israeli invasion of Lebanon has morphed into an environmental hazard in the city of Sidon, the BBC reports. Palestinian refugees make some money scavenging from the 4-story stinking eyesore—sifting among syringes and discarded human organs for reusable materials. Meanwhile, hunks of garbage from the dump make their way into the ocean, clogging and destroying the local fishermen’s nets. According to the article, there are prospective donors that might pay to clean up and deal with the mess, but the local government can’t get their act together to coordinate (Via Greenprophet).
Most amazing RV ever
Monday, December 28, 2009Stunning photos of a garbage truck converted into an uberorganized mobile home are making the virtual rounds after being posted by a website that offers reliable campervan hire in Australia. I saw them on MAKE magazine.
Trashtastic RV exterior
Trashtastic RV interior
The trouble with getting into garbage is the everburning tug of consumerism. The more time you spend reading and thinking about consumerism, making less and wasting less, the more cool stuff you come across made out of trash or related materials. MAN DO I WANT THIS THING. Especially the kitchen. But really, what would I do with it?
The Heildelberg Project
Saturday, December 26, 2009A story on the HuffPo yesterday indirectly highlighted Detroit’s Heildelberg Project, a long overdue feature here.
Trash-formations
Thursday, December 24, 2009Ah Queens, the most diverse neighborhood on the planet. As if you needed another reason to visit, local artist N’Cognita has provided one for you: Trash-formaitons. Now through January in the curatorial space of Sabay Thai Restaurant in Elmhurst you can visit a very special trash art exhibition. Check out her website for more info. And while you’re there, click around for images of related expos past, including N’Cognita’s trashtastic Endless Junkmail Scroll.
N'Cognita's Endless Junkmail Scroll
Homemade Swiffer pads
Thursday, December 24, 2009Sweet. DIY Life has instructions for making your very own replacement pads for Swiffers. Good news if you’re like me who would like to swiff up dirt but can’t stomach the thought of all the trash generated from disposable pads. This time of year I always wish I was a more crafty person.
Reusable Swiffer pad
Staten Island Dump
Thursday, December 24, 2009Just saw via Sicolab.org that there’s a new Staten Island blog on the block. Staten Island Dump‘s tagline is “News. Music. Politics. Life. Gossip. Garbage.” I like the sound of that. Check out the site for such intellectually stimulating content as an interactive poll on the greatest Staten Islander of the decade. I’m torn between Dennis Coles and Diane Savino.
Trashulation
Wednesday, December 23, 2009Just read the inside label of my snowpants to discover the insulation is made from recycled nylon. Who knew trash could keep you so warm?
Leila attempts snowshoeing
Seasons greetings from the frigid prairies of Minnesota. Hope you’re keeping warm wherever you are!
Trashy snowplows
Sunday, December 20, 2009As we had about a foot or so of snow falling down on Brooklyn, I’ve been enjoying studying how my new home city deals with snow. First impression, not surprising, is that it melts away, seemingly before it has time to shift from white to exhaust pipe brown. Second impression, a tad more surprising, is that the necessary remowal of snow from streets is being carried out by trash trucks. Three questions pop up in my head:
- Why?
- What are refuse collectors going to use to collect trash while there’s snow on our streets?
- What happens to the system of picking up trash bags from the pavement when the pavements of our streets are covered in three feet of plowed snow?
Snowplow truck pictogram, by Kriss Szkurlatowski
Life in a box
Sunday, December 20, 2009Harnessing the worldwide attention on environmental issues sparked by the UN meeting in Copenhagen, local Danish architects built a city out of shipping containers and set up a sustainability expo inside.
Stacked Shipping Container Pavilion @ COP15
Plastic bag batteries
Sunday, December 20, 2009Scientists have come up with yet another way to upcycle plastic bags, this time into nanotubes that can be used to make batteries. According to Discover magazine, however, it’s a pricey process.
It involves an expensive catalyst in cobalt acetate, which is not easily recovered, to convert the high or low-density polyethylene (HDPE and LDPE) into carbon nanotubes. But if the nanotubes are then used to make lithium-ion or lithium-air batteries, that might overcome this problem, since these batteries are already recycled at the end of their use to recover cobalt.
Click here for more on how to make a nanotube. Or watch this video from Stanford.
The year in trash
Friday, December 18, 2009It’s been a wasteful yet waste conscious year. Here’s a quick and dirty roundup of what I remember offhand of what we’ve discussed here:
- everydaytrash.com gained a voice when Victor joined as contributing editor writing first from Stockholm and then, in a happy turn of events, from right here in Brooklyn;
- We saw some movies: No Impact Man and Garbage Dreams brought trash to the big string at home and abroad;
- Vic and I headed to Jersey for Laurapalooza and met some cute kids;
- We co-hosted the first annual Decorative Dumpster Day (can’t wait for next year!);
- We celebrated some Trashtastic Tuesdays (and, um, are overdue for a few more);
- It was a chaotic year for trash litigation; and
- An incredibly fruitful and creative year in the world of trash art.
Oh, and the Facebook page grew a lot. If you’re on there, fan us. We post extra photos, links and updates. Plus, you can interact with other trashies (which you can also do here. Comment more, please).
Trashy new year, everyone.
xoxo
Leila
13th Avenue, New York, NY
Thursday, December 10, 2009
13th Avenue Map
One of my favorite NYC blogs, Ephemeral New York, has a great post up today about Manhattan’s ill-fated 13th Avenue. Like so many things in this city, the history of 13th Avenue has a lot to do with trash: it was built on a landfill and, while it existed, was frequented by trash pickers.
Reblog: 12 Amazing Objects Made From Plastic Bags
Wednesday, December 9, 2009Check out this Treehugger slideshow. My favorite are these Peruvian shoes, which I saw for the first time on Art for Housewives.
Plastic bag shoes by Camila Labra
Badass
Sunday, December 6, 2009
Little Shiva, http://www.visibletrash.net
Little Shiva‘s trashtastic ensemble for Copenhagen next week.
everydaytrash 