I found this Dexter video on YouTube while rooting around for a Monday story. I’m not sure if it’s a good or bad thing that this is one of the first links to appear when one Googles “trash policy”. I’m going with cute.
Don’t throw your trash in the aisle
Monday, August 18, 2008Poems about bears and trash
Thursday, August 14, 2008
After reading this sad story about a “garbage-conditioned” bear “destroyed” by police for getting caught breaking into someone’s house looking for yummy trash, I commenced an internet search for “bear aware” and found this amusing poetry contest. Entries had to be a haiku using the words “bear,” “garbage” and, improbably, “shorts”. Shorts kind of killed it for me, but whatever.
Photo via the Yellowstone Park News blog
Polka dotted trash
Monday, August 11, 2008Check out this post over at Olympia Dumpster Divers where the fabulous Ruby Reusable has collected some neat links on fancy trash bags migrating about NYC this summer.
The project, TRASH: Any color you like, uses 100% biodegradable bags naturally scented with peppermint and bugglegum to repel vermin. Reminds me of how my grandmother used to use stale Juicy Fruit to kill moles, but that’s a story for another day.
With love and squalor
Friday, August 8, 2008
Everydaytrash received some TH blog love yesterday for hosting Carnival of the Green (thanks Tree Hugger!). This little shout out plus links back to the carnival boosted Web hits all week. Logical enough. Wanna know what else boosts web hits? Mentioning Robert Rauschenberg, Marcel DuChamp and interviewing Francophone North African trash art curators in Norway. Google searches for Rauchenberg and DuChamp bring in hits every day. In fact, the day Rauchenberg died everydaytrash.com reached an all time record in page views (Heath Leger’s death caused a spike as well as googlers seeking info on “Michelle Williams” clicked through to a post where I once mentioned that she lives in my hood). On a less morbid note, external links to the Trashtastic Tuesday Q & A featuring Samir M’kadmi feed a steady stream of readers my way. Which reminds me, I need to scan some images and post more on Jon Gundersen, a Norwegian found object artist I met in Oslo through M’kadmi.
Photo of pacifiers collected by GUndersen ripped from the Du Store Verden! site
Sugar!
Thursday, August 7, 2008
In a serendipitous series of mouse clicks, I was listening to the song “Sugarman” by Scorcher [insert grime/trash joke] when I opened up a post on biodegradable packaging made from Sugarcane over at The Temas Blog. I interpreted this coincidence as a sign that I should post both links for you and turn you on to two great sites, in case you’re not already in the know: Last.fm for free music streaming and The Temas Blog, for all things trash in Latin America.
Photos ripped from Myspace and Temas respectively
Cool cat in hot tin boots
Wednesday, August 6, 2008
I’ve come across and refrained from posting a lot of tired trash art/found object crap lately. These hot boots (from a recent show in Baltimore) were just the innovative little idea I needed to remind me why I love this shit. It’s fun. Full stop.
Mexico City Trash
Tuesday, August 5, 2008Many of my friends are in Mexico City right now for the International AIDS Conference. I’ve been a little jealous this week, picturing them all sipping fresh fruit margaritas and loading up on free condoms without me. I was looking forward to a few political pun buttons or a postcard, but then my friend Maxwell sent me the best souvenir ever: trash pics!
These are from El Bosque de Chapultepec, a park in Mexico City where Max noticed that all the trash cans in the park had “organicos” and “inorganicos” containers to separate organic and inorganic trash (though he notes not everyone uses them properly). Check out the trash truck, also equipped to separate organic and inorganic waste and the SUPERCOOL trash can made of plastic bottles. Sadly, Max adds: “I just read in the travel book I purchased before this trip that Mexico only recycles about 6% of it’s trash. So perhaps the park is a haven of reasonable trash policy.”
Carnival of the Green
Monday, August 4, 2008
Welcome to Carnival of the Green, a roaming weekly digest of the best in eco-blogging. Last week Allie’s Green Answers hosted the madness; next week cruise on over to The Evangelical Ecologist.
This week in the green blogosphere:
- Cindy Endahl of myrecycledbags.com muses on the ultimate grocery bag; while Deirdre Helfferich of The Ester Republic asks What to do? about our ever growing collections of plastic bags.
- Vihar Sheth announces It’s Electric, Boogie, Woogie, Woogie! posted at green | rising.
- MoneyChangesThings reports on the 2009 Prius’ new feature: solar panels.
- APH debunks an Urbanism Legend: Gas Taxes and Fees Cover All Costs of Road Use posted at Market Urbanism.
- Sally Thompson shares Greener Thumb: 100 Resources to Grow Your Own Organic Fruits and Vegetables posted at Organicasm.
- Fake Plastic Fish attempts to bribe her CA readers with the best fudge sauce in the world to write to their reps about an important plastic bag bill in the state assembly.
- David comments on Rising Gasoline Prices And The Demise Of The Small Town posted at The Good Human.
- After a school year of misery, Sally Kneidel of VeggieRevolutution was ready for total immersion in Lake Llanganuco, Peru. One problem: the only entree on the menu at Lake Llanganuco was guinea pig.
- SVB @ The Digerati Life reassures us We’re driving less to save money and the environment!
- La Margurite recounts her nostalgie for a time of less trash in a post entitled Garbage Society.
- Kacper Wrzesniewski ennumerates 37 shortest hacks to save on electricity posted at KacperWrzesniewski.com.
- NtJS instructs us on Dumpster Diving Etiquette posted at not the jet set.
- jzulueta presents Green is Righteous posted at jzulueta.
- Lynn from OrganicMania.com writes about the rationale for the launch of The Green Moms Carnival which launches Monday at organicmania.com; and Diane MacEachern shares more on the new carnival over at The Daily Green.
- Matthew Philip presents Removing the Fossil Fuel Blinders posted at EnviroHumanImpact.
- Jason Isbell shares tips on how to Recycle the Waste posted at Tired Garden.
- Emmett Duffy at The Natural Patriot gives us an update on the Tiberneck Biodiversity Restauration Project.
- And here at everydaytrash, Leila talks to Kim Holleman about art, politics and the definition of “TRASHNAMI“.
Happy Reading!
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Photo via MoneyWalks.com
So many good things in one
Friday, August 1, 2008
A recent email from the Wooster Collective highlighted this lovely post from their archives on how to make a plastic-bag eating giraffe, authored by the fabulous Mark Jenkins. You know how I love street art, giraffes and creative ways to reuse plastic bags and promote their extinction!
Relaxing trash (found on YouTube)
Wednesday, July 30, 2008BlackBook on trash art
Wednesday, July 30, 2008Rohin Guha has two recent posts up on good and bad trash art. I think I’ll check out the Affirmation Arts show on trash picking. Looks good. Also, appears to be free. And you know how I love pretentious use of Franglais.
Sobering
Tuesday, July 29, 2008Trashtastic Tuesday with Kim Holleman
Monday, July 21, 2008
For those of you, like me, who couldn’t make it to the TRASHNAMI! opening last week, here’s a trashtastic interview with artist Kim Holleman. I’m posting this early because it’s the last trash of the week. Starting tonight I’ll be offline for a whole week, relaxing in rural Minnesota where the word on the river is that cell phones don’t work, not even global Blackberries. So exciting!
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everydaytrash: What is a Trashnami? How did you collect the materials for this installation?
Holleman: The TRASHNAMI! is a giant cresting wave of garbage.
For it’s previous incarnation as a FUTURE MOUNTAIN (a 360 degree rendering of a mountain range in garbage bags), I had my “community” of people collect their shopping bags normally and give me the tornado of bags that everyone normally gathers under their kitchen sink. I collected for about 7 months, including my own bags.
For TRASHNAMI!, I actually added in blues and greens that were purchased with money budgeted for the show. I also created stickers for the left over bags and handed them out as freebees.
everydaytrash: How do politics play out in your work?
…
Holleman: My work is political in that is places a premium on real information about our world and our lives and the true consequences of our lifestyle and culture. I use art to address issues and if not solve them, show them in their true light, so that hopefully, no one can turn away and pretend that how their singular lives are is the truth of the world as it is right now. Just because we are here and temporary unscathed does not mean we are safe, innocent, or unaffected for long. Just ask people in New Orleans. My work is political in that is places a premium on real information about our world and our lives and the true consequences of our lifestyle and culture. I use art to address issues and if not solve them, show them in their true light, so that hopefully, no one can turn away and pretend that how their singular lives are is the truth of the world as it is right now. Just because we are here and temporary unscathed does not mean we are safe, innocent, or unaffected for long. Just ask people in New Orleans.
everydaytrash: The title of your show is dated in the near future and refers to our changing world. That, coupled with the image of a “trashnami” gives the sense of impending doom. Do you see trash as an immediate threat to our way of life?
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Holleman: The TRASHNAMI! isn’t a threat to our way of life, it IS our way of life. Make that distinction please. And it is dire and it is a non-negotiable fact. See this, please read about the Pacific Garbage Patch. There are now more particulates of small plankton-sized pieces of plastic in the ocean than plankton at some spots. This is coming from scientists who drag plankton nets and then count and sort particulates under microscopes. The way we handle plastic/petroleum/chemicals/poisons/refuse/trash causes global warming, which causes more extreme weather conditions, hence more earhtquakes, tornado, hurricanes and tsunami. We are doing it. WE are doing it.
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Photos kindly provided by Holleman
Wall-E Verdict
Sunday, July 20, 2008
After thoroughly skimming the press out there on Pixar’s trash robot oeuvre, I have chosen a camp on the “beautifully understated, morals shouldn’t be beaten over our heads” versus “apolitical fluff” debate. I liked it. Wall-E sends good messages about trash and its consequences and I believe I would have groaned had the links between an endless trash compaction on Earth and the sad fate of humans in space been made more clear. Of course, I don’t expect kids to go home and refuse Wall-E themed toys because they now understand the dangers of consumerism. But if we’re talking about important causes and saving what’s endangered, then my allegiance goes to all that is subtle.
As for the film itself, I agree that the first half is the best part. I was, of course, charmed by the little guy’s trash collection (in fact, it reminds me I have one more story from Oslo to share, that of an obsessive collector and found object artist). The only drawback for me (other than having to admit to buying into a Disney product) was that while Wall-E himself is very human and lovable, his love interest Eve is a cold machine. Despite warming a bit as the film goes on, she never quite acquires a personality. While I know some guys go for the ice queen thing, watching the wooing of a tin can gets a little old as the film wears on.
It’s over when we say it’s over
Friday, July 18, 2008
CNN reports that Berlusconi is about to announce the end of the Neapolitan trash crisis. Kind of like when Bush declared victory in Iraq.
everydaytrash 
