By Cary Gibaldi - June 18, 2007
Recently, some frogs from the west coast have been working on the promotional launch of Adobe's AIR (formerly Apollo) tour entitled "onAIR". Lee Brimelow, Nick De La Mare, and Rob Stokes were recently interviewed about the current project. Check out the interview here.
By Various frogs - June 18, 2007
A major difference I've noticed in contrast to Seoul is that trash cans not only exist but they are everywhere.
The trash cans here are split down the middle between recyclable goods and non-recyclables.
Almost every trash can is designed in this way. As to whether people use it or not, that's debatable. But the fact that something like this exists here (I've never seen anything like this in the west) does say something about the mentality of the area.
Even in an hour outside of Shanghai, in the Water town of Zhou Zhang, recycling is prevalent.
Have you ever seen such a cool looking trash can? They even recycle in the countryside.
Alternatively, I've noticed a lot of people littering in public. Much more than I'd ever seen in the states. One of the reasons for this has to be the gratuitous amount of street cleaners working here. There are more city workers actively cleaning the streets than there are police, and there's a police officer standing on almost every block. I've found Shanghai remarkably clean in terms of trash in the streets (dirt and pollution is another story) compared to say, New York, Chicago or San Francisco.
Here's an example of a street cleaner's broom and bin...
In other news, I also visited the Shanghai Urban Planning Museum over the weekend to learn a more of the official point of view on the rapid change this city is undergoing. This building is just enormous, several stories and easily 200,000 sq ft with a 1:200 model of the city occupying at least 8,000 sq ft. I was fascinated at how much of this permanent exhibition is dedicated to the environmentally sustainable growth of shanghai and surrounds. However, I couldn't find any spec of information about a recycling program or plans to manage waste better in the future. The closest thing to waste management I found were planning statements around a sewage system and animal waste utilization.
Obviously, the overall environmental situation in China leaves much to be desired, but the counter-argument that China's per capita problems are less than of the U.S. is hard to reconcile if the pace of growth here continues. Shanghai being an autonomous zone might have more freedom to enact change than other areas of mainland China. As to how much of this talk is viable and genuine, I suppose only time will tell.
-Brandon Edwards
By Various frogs - June 17, 2007
One time when we can drastically affect our personal waste generation is at the time of purchase. My first grocery store experience in China brought about these issues upstream of merely throwing things away.
One inevitable purchase: TP (toilet paper). Simple enough? Just look for recycled, unbleached toilet paper and packaging that allows recycling? Not so easy when nothing is in English with little comprehension of Mandarin characters. I'm pretty sure though that the store simply didn't carry environmentally friendly toilet paper...that stuff is hard to find even in America.
Only I didn't notice until I got home that the TP packaging was double-wrapped.
Now that's a big deal. A package inside a package. There must be more effective ways to distribute toilet paper, such as one package that effectively reduces contamination?
I've seen a dramatic change over the past several years as my first influencers in a purchase have increasingly become whether the product and its packaging is environmentally friendly. Strictly adhering to purchasing in this manner is is difficult and takes a concerted effort. And yet it's important to understand that no matter how much sustainable shopping we contribute to, it is only part of the actions we should take as individuals and within the groups we live. Personal waste generation is more than simply buying better products.
We should start to consider all processes and efforts that go into a product...from the means of transportation of yourself to a product...the distribution of a product to your store...the cleaning processes...the manufacturing processes and conditions...the chemicals used...the advertising generated...and so on...it's up to us to think of the entire system, from cradle to cradle. As consumers, we can't simply buy our access into a sustainable world.
-Brandon Edwards
By Various frogs - June 16, 2007
I was a little nervous about carrying a bag of trash into the People's Republic of China. Turned out ok, and the customs didn't even notice (or likely care). My customs form if you want to see it.
Airline food. I hadn't planned on eating on the plane, but a mental slip in simply accepting what the attendant was asking me (in korean) changed this. So I was faced with, for the first time ever, eating an entire meal on an airplane. The photos speak for themselves here, so I'll just add some color along the way.
Accept your fate. You are going to eat this.
food contents: raw salmon, cherry tomato, lemon slice, wheat roll with 1 packet of butter and 1 tube of korean spicy paste, something with "beef", orange juice, and a small doughy pastry for dessert.
other items: paper napkin, stainless steel silverware, sugar, creamer, salt and pepper, hand wipes, and a toothpick
I just want to point out that is seriously way too much butter and paste on my roll.
Florida? There must be oranges closer than Florida. If not, don't serve me orange juice.
Finished! No photoshopping!
And the waste...
Most of these items are recyclable, but that's still a lot of trash. I even nabbed the placemat, which definitely isn't. The attendant was very confused and tried to give me more placemats as souvenirs I'm guessing.
What this meal isn't doing: reducing waste (over abundance of food), reducing packaging, using renewable resources (styrofoam placemat), supporting local markets (florida oj), etc. As I said there are a lot of recyclables in our day-to-day lives. Choosing to go out of our way to recycle is another story. And eco-efficiency, or creating less of an environmental impact, via recycling only goes so far. When we look at this on a larger scale, the more progressive argument is for eco-effectiveness, or crade-to-cradle design. That is, making processes and products that do no harm to begin with or give back more than they take away.
In Shanghai now...now we'll start to see similarities and differences in the public systems and the culture of trash. Shanghai is often referred to as the Paris or New York of the East. What I've seen here so far is such a mix of old and new that make it a fascinating study of how cultures change, what influences that change, and how people and organizations can better shape the growth. Among other things, Saturday I'm going to view the new Urban Planning Museum with its vision for Shanghai in 2020. I'll be on the lookout for the trashcan and landfill of the future.
-Brandon Edwards
By Various frogs - June 14, 2007
I usually carry my backpack and camera gear everywhere, so it hasn't been too difficult to carry all this trash with me. It's an interesting experience after lunch, for example, when I have to put my napkin and an empty bottle in my backpack. I've gotten a few funny looks. And my coworkers keep trying to hand off their trash to me. Not funny, guys!
One thing that's surprising is how many items are recyclable. Literally nearly every package or container I've come across has the international symbol on it. A side note...where a recycling bin wasn't readily available, I carried my recyclables back to the apartment to collect them...to dispose of on my last day in Seoul. Below is a day 5 photo of everything to date (note the left half of the table contains items I will recycle):
In South Korea there are at least 7 different types of recyclables. Here's an image of the symbols:
[Source of those symbols]
A client helped me translate them. Thanks Monica! The translation is as follows:
1 (PETE) : 재활용 가능, 음료수 병, 생수 병, 간장병, 식용유 병
recyclable, beverage bottle, water bottle, soy sause bottle, oil bottle
2 (HDPE) : 재활용 가능, 세제류 용기, 샴푸 통
recyclable, detergent container, shampoo container
3 (V) : 재활용 불가능, 대부분 공업용으로 가정용 배출품 거의 없음
disposable, mostly industrial things
4 (LDPE) : 재활용 가능, 우유병, 막걸리 병
recyclable, milk bottle, Makgeolli (this is a korean drink) bottle
5 (PP) : 재활용 가능, 상자류(맥주, 콜라, 소주 등)
recyclable, paper, boxes (beer, coke, So-ju)
6 (PS) : 재활용 가능, 사와병, 요쿠르트 병
recyclable, yogurt bottle
7 (Other) : 재활용 불가능, 대용량 물통, 게임기
disposable, mass water bottle, game device
Remember how I mentioned I couldn't find a trash can? Well, I'm not the only one. What I'm calling "random public trash accumulation" is problem here in Seoul. AKA littering. I haven't been here long enough to know how bad of a problem this is. It happens pretty unsurprisingly: one person uses a bench or some other surface to discard their trash (recyclable or not), and slowly but surely others continue. I'm not sure what the cultural stigma of littering is here, but I know this wouldn't fly in many American cities. Then again, we have public trash cans...Photo of this below (more on flickr):
Traveling all the time can be very misleading when it comes to trash, namely because we have maid service cleaning up after us on a daily basis. The environment of a hotel or apartment on the road has a sense of artificiality, especially when it comes to cleanliness. Wednesday morning I ran out of shampoo, only it was in one of those tiny travel bottles. I always carry several of those single serving shampoo and conditioner containers wherever I go (and I usually snatch the ones provided!)...So as it happened I never noticed whether they were recyclable or not. The little bottles definitely do not have any symbols that denote recycling, so I'm carrying them with me while I try to find out what I can do with them. Imagine the possibilities of a system, scaled worldwide, where those little containers are re-used rather than discarded.
Next up, carrying trash through customs from South Korea to China. The amount of trash I'm actually trying to carry through customs is relatively little. I'm not sure what the laws are, but will try to find out before I leave. We'll see what happens...!
-Brandon Edwards
By Various frogs - June 12, 2007
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
By Various frogs - June 10, 2007
Correction & Apology - added June 11
In my description of my tour of the King County landfill, I stated that King County does not require recycling or provide pickup. I learned today that I was misinformed, and would like to post a correction I received from a representative of the King County Solid Waste Division:
First, King County ensures that recycling services are available throughout King County, except for Seattle (which manages its own solid waste system) and Milton (which is part of Pierce County's system). While the county does not have authority under state law to collect garbage or recyclables, state law and county policy establish waste reduction and recycling as the highest priority for solid waste management. Like the City of Seattle, the other 37 cities in incorporated King County either have their recyclables collected by hauling companies Waste Management and Allied/Rabanco or they provide the collection themselves. The Solid Waste Division works with these cities to encourage curbside recycling and provides grants to help fund recycling education, promotion, and special events for city residents and businesses. In addition, King County Code requires curbside collection of recyclables in the unincorporated areas of the county, and this service is currently provided by the private hauling companies. As a result of our regional efforts, the county's overall recycling rate for curbside collection in 2006 was 53 percent, one of the highest rates in the nation.
I also wanted to mention that since the 1980s when aggressive recycling began, the useful life of the Cedar Hills landfill has been extended by nine years. Through the aggressive efforts of the county and the cities, we hope to gain another year from our recycling programs before the landfill closes. More about the programs and services offered by the county and the cities can be found on our Web site at:
http://www.metrokc.gov/dnrp/swd/garbage-recyc...
I sincerely apologize for my misstatement, and am very glad to hear I was wrong about the lack of recycling programs!
Final Comments
I've finished my two weeks of my trash awareness project. I don't really have much to add to the blog at this point. However, I did want to make sure to include a link to an interesting photographic exhibit representing American consumption, sent to me by a friend. And, of course, a photo of me with my collected trash.
That's it for me! Now the project moves to someone in another frog studio.
~Linda
By Adam Richardson - June 8, 2007
There’s a really good article in the June 11 issue of BusinessWeek about the tension at 3M between a free-spirited innovation culture and an efficiency-focused Six Sigma culture. 3M’s last CEO, James McNerney, came from GE and spread Six Sigma throughout the 3M organization, including in places where some people felt it shouldn’t be, such as the R&D labs.
By Various frogs - June 7, 2007
Hot Topic
Wow – a sudden interest from the local media. My guess is that the timing of our little project fits in with what’s hot in the news right now. After all, Al Gore was just in Seattle this week, and he has become synonymous with conservation. The great thing is the increase in traffic on the blog! I am glad to see the great comments, suggestions, resources, experiences people have sent. Because one of the frustrations I encountered was the limited amount of plastics recycling in Seattle, I am happy to see the focus on recycling, trash reduction, renewable resources – and involvement!
I’ve been thinking a lot about what this experience means to me.
**climb up on soapbox**
I don’t know how much of what I’m doing now I’ll continue in the long term. But I think quite a bit of it. I have also realized two things about myself that I hadn’t really conceptualized before. I believe that conservation is one part of being a responsible world citizen, along with working to improve everyone’s quality of life, worldwide, by sharing wealth, ensuring healthcare, and reducing violence. They are all intertwined. The second thing is that I although I always talk about these things, I don’t take a lot of action. Now that I’ve taken this step, I’m hoping I’ll keep the momentum and expand my actions to support my beliefs. We’ll see.
**back to earth**
A few random observations from the past 10 days:• I’m actually enjoying this experiment – not as difficult as I expected, kind of fun, and I feel like I’m doing something worthwhile in increasing my awareness of my own behavior (always a good thing).
• You cannot buy cloth diapers or handkerchiefs in the grocery store – only disposable.
• Leaving electronic AC chargers for cell phones, etc plugged in uses up a lot of power. Using a power strip with an on/off button can reduce power waste when the cords aren’t in use. But so much effort!
• I’ve been surprised by people, even some friends, who just don’t care – but then, I’ve also heard from a lot of people – friends and strangers – who are already taking action to be better caretakers of their environment.
• Trying to “do the right thing” is complicated. Lots of actions that seem like the right thing actually have their own negative consequences that are not immediately obvious. You have to look at the entire “lifecycle.” But, I think it’s all part of the learning process. Hopefully, we’ll get better at this.
~Linda
By Various frogs - June 4, 2007
Touring the King County Landfill – The Good, The Bad, The Ugly
A couple weeks ago, I toured the last remaining King County Landfill. When I was getting ready to do this two-week project, I thought it would be useful to see where the trash goes. Originally, I was told I couldn’t get in until mid-June as their tours were fully booked until then. Who knew? However, when I told them I wanted to take the tour as part of my project, they very nicely fit me in – for a private 90-minute tour at that. The official information about the landfill is here. So I won’t go into all the statistics, but just give you some thoughts about my visit.
The Good
I was excited about my tour, and was kind of surprised that I couldn’t convince anyone else to go with me. I’m thinking they were picturing wading through trash. I will admit I expected to be able to smell the place before seeing it (helpful if I got lost, I reasoned); however, I was pleasantly surprised to approach a very well-kept “active area” surrounded by clearly human-made hills (filled areas) returning to a semi-natural state above-ground , all surrounded by quite a bit of forest (“buffer zone”). During the tour, riding in a pickup truck around and above the “active area” – not in it,” I saw a couple deer and several bald eagles. My guide said he had seen a brown bear just that morning drinking from a rain runoff pond (yes, it’s clean). He said that the management of the landfill has contracted with the county to monitor it for 100 years. It’s scheduled to close in nine years, so after that, his job will consist mostly of wandering through the developing forest, checking for methane gas leaks or any other issues.
In the meantime, the most interesting thing he told me is that the landfill has contracted with an Australian company to convert the methane gas (product of trash decomposition) to liquid form and pipe it to the gas company to use as fuel.
My guide also told me that they are on level 7 of 17 levels in the last section of the last landfill in the county. Once it closes in nine years, King County will begin shipping trash by train from transfer stations to a trash “super site.” I’m not sure this falls in the “Good” category, but I suppose consolidation of trash into fewer, larger locations is a good thing (unless you live nearby).
The Bad
I asked if they had noticed any slowdown in their fill rate with increasing recycling. To my surprise, and disappointment, King County does not require recycling or provide pickup. People have to take recyclable items to a designated acceptance location. So, of course, most don’t – meaning the landfill is full of a huge amount of items that don’t need to be there.
Since Seattle, which prides itself on its model recycling program, is the largest city in King County, this seemed odd. Then my guide told me that actually Seattle’s trash and recycling does not go into the King County landfill; and he didn’t know where it went. Strange. When I called the Seattle Department of Solid Waste to find out more, they told me that they already ship trash to a super site in Oregon because it’s cheaper than using the King County landfill (huh?). Recycling gets shipped out to various recycling plants.
Along with the huge amounts of methane gas produced, landfills sink about two feet per year, depending upon what’s in them. No one knows how long this will go on (according to my guide).
The Ugly
It’s still a dump.
But maybe not forever. In King County, nothing can ever be built on previous landfill. However, I contacted a friend of mine in Baltimore who worked for thirty years for a company that designed landfills (I think he was shocked that for the first time in ~20 years, I was taking more than a polite interest in his profession). He said that many places have turned closed landfills into parks (the best: Mt. Trashmore Park) or golf courses – where the course changes slightly every time you go! He also confirmed that hauling trash to super sites has been the trend for years on the east coast. He also mentioned that people have begun mining landfills for metals – even Alcoa is hunting for it’s old aluminum. This is an interesting concept – reduce mining of new metals, reduce the size of old landfills, and hopefully find a better way of re-disposing of the remaining uncovered trash with newer technologies.
Now, and update on my own personal trash contribution.
• One Styrofoam egg carton
• Several pieces of plastic food wrap/packaging; this has been the most unavoidable item for me – but they all fit inside the egg carton (second use!)
• Plastic cup and plastic coffee cup lid
• Stupid plastic starbucks sample cup and foil coffee bean bag*
• Prescription bottle (not recyclable)
• Dental floss package (ran out), several pieces of floss
• A couple Q-tips
• A toothbrush that I couldn’t justify using anymore (this is after converting it to a kitchen cleaning brush)
• A couple small pieces of foil wrap, e.g. from a dinner mint
• 2 pieces of plastic packaging from Apple products (I scolded them)
• A couple plastic bottle caps
• A metal clasp from an envelope I received in the mail
• A pen that burst in my purse (had to happen this week, didn’t it?)
I am now carrying my trash around in a fairly large grocery carrier made of recycled plastic bags by a company in India that hires people to sort through mounds of trash for the bags, then processes them into purses, backpacks, etc. The main reason I did this is because I can toss the backpack and my purse in there, and it just looks like a really big purse. Taking it with me has become second nature. I took it to the movies Friday night, to a backyard party Saturday night – I put it on a chair in the middle of the small yard so I was always within the five-foot limit without having to lug it around. ☺
~Linda
