The problem of waste disposal in our time of accelerated and increased consumption is becoming more and more acute for modern man. Once you review your trash can and think about what happens next with its contents, you will no longer be able to get this problem out of your head.
Famous Californian photographer Gregg Segal, who has received many international awards and is regularly published in the popular publications Time, Fortune, Wired and ESPN, created the scandalous 7 Days of Garbage project, which encourages people to think about the quantity and quality of their consumption.
As Gregg himself writes on his website , he ...
“... since childhood, I have been thinking about where the garbage goes and what happens to it after it gets outside the house. The average American creates about 2 kg (4 lb) of waste daily. In the sum of the nation, this figure reaches 4 million tons (!) of garbage per week. I'm not only concerned about how much trash we throw away, but how much fun we have about it.
In January 2014, I decided to create a series of photographs after which it is impossible to ignore the problem of waste. I asked family, neighbors, friends and other acquaintances not to throw away their garbage and recyclables for 7 days and then lie on top of him and take a picture. I did the same with my family, so that my 7-year-old son would understand that we are also contributing to this problem. I asked people to include recyclables for several reasons: most of what is claimed to be “recycled” is not actually recycled, plastic recycling has an environmental cost, and packaging is overkill.
For the photographs, I created three types of conditions in my yard in Altadena: water, forest and beach. I photographed participants from above, centering the camera directly over the subject. My goal was to show how pervasive garbage is.
I have come to the conclusion that by looking at themselves from the outside, some people see the problem much deeper. Many admitted that the process of saving their garbage and lying on it led to the thought of the necessary changes. Others have commented on their feelings of helplessness. What can everyone do? It's not our fault that the products we buy are overpackaged and have a short shelf life. Our economic model and its need for fuel growth and the garbage craze makes conservation (garbage) untenable.
So far, some of us are taking small steps towards reducing the crisis. Reflecting on the photographs, I went so far as to see 7 Days of Garbage as an instant archeology - a record not only of our garbage, but also of our values - values that need to be developed little by little.
Inspect your trash can as well. Estimate how many unnecessary things you get. What can be reused, what can be recycled, and what can be sent to rot in a landfill and pollute the environment. Do it for yourself and your children.
May all living beings be happy! 🙂
See also anekdotig:
- Article: " Proper Waste Management ".
- Article: " How to prepare recyclables for recycling ."
- Article: " Zero Waste Stores: Myth or Reality?" »
- Article: " Ocean garbage islands - a new heritage of civilization ."
- Video: " History of Things" with Annie Leonard .
- Video: Documentary "Trashed" with Jeremy Irons .
- Video: "Under the power of garbage" - a documentary investigation .
- Video: What Really Happens to the Plastic You Throw Away .
- Tip: " Don't take free promotional materials ."
- Tip: " Buy recycled toilet paper ."
- Tip: " Use a reusable shopping bag ."
- Tip: " Use a reusable water container ."