Trash Talk: Asian Edition

Hi everyone, just want to introduce myself and graciously accept the torch from Linda Carlin. I officially started this project on Sunday - only Sunday in Seoul, South Korea (Saturday in Seattle).

I've recently moved to Shanghai from our Austin office and have been traveling in Seoul for a design research project. When Ashley Menger asked my to carry my trash around for two weeks across Asia, I was a little frightened. But on second thought, the idea of observing and analyzing the culture of trash in different countries was quite compelling. So the first half of this two week project I'll be in Seoul and the final half will be upon my return to Shanghai.

Seoul is an alarmingly clean city, considering its size and density. At this point I've now seen more of South Korea than of Shanghai. If there's one underlying thought here, it is "Where are all the trash cans?" No, I meant it! There are several street vendors and of course carry-out food in every neighborhood I've visited. Yet I've found it difficult to find many places to put my trash. Last week (before I started the project) I walked around for 20 minutes with an empty soda bottle before finding a place to throw it away.

Similarly, in the office environment, the desks and conference rooms generally lack trash cans. One must find a kitchen area. The trash cans that do exist are tiny (photos to come). My initial reaction to the lack of trash cans is that cleanliness, in the sense of moderation and the absence of filth, is one of the underlying currents in society here. People seem not to create much waste, either consciously or subconsciously. I'll try to see how accurate that is in the days to come...It might just be that waste is disposed of differently.

Another interesting moment was the realization that most (not all) chopsticks here are metal (like forks and spoons). I hadn't considered it before, but of course they're made of stainless steel - Why wouldn't they be?!

Notice in the above photo how small the napkin is? Most all napkins are around the size of a square of toilet paper, or half the size of a tissue. Little waste, indeed.

I'm now at the beginning of day 4 (Wednesday morning in Seoul, Tuesday afternoon in America) and have surprisingly little trash to carry. Three more days to go in Seoul and then we'll see how Shanghai compares.

Some topics I want to touch on in my next post: everything is recyclable, what the symbols for recycling mean, random public trash accumulation, and what it means to travel with your trash...

-Brandon Edwards