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An essay about waste garbage
An essay about waste garbage
An essay about waste garbage
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Piles of trash provide a living for thousands in Nairobi, Kenya, where small children rummage through the infamous Dandora Dumpsite for anything that could make them a buck.
One person's rubbish really is another person's livelihood at the 30 acre landfill to the east of the city, which is one of the largest dumpsites in the world.
In a collection of eye-opening photographs, New York-based photographer Brendan Bannon shines a light on the startling poverty that has seen dumpsites become not just a place where waste is left to rot, but a bustling source of potential fortune
The author, Lars Eighner explains in his informative narrative, “On Dumpster Diving” the lifestyle of living out of a dumpster. Eighner describes the necessary steps to effectively scavenge through dumpsters based on his own anecdotes as he began dumpster diving a year before he became homeless. The lessons he learned from being a dumpster diver was in being complacent to only grab what he needs and not what he wants, because in the end all those things will go to waste. Eighner shares his ideas mainly towards two direct audiences. One of them is directed to people who are dumpster divers themselves, and the other, to individuals who are unaware of how much trash we throw away and waste. However, the author does more than direct how much trash
Mark Peterson’s 1994 photograph, Image of Homelessness, compares the everyday life of the working class to the forgotten life of the lowest class in society. In the image, the viewer can see a troubled homeless man wrapped in a cocoon of standard manipulated 12in by 12in cardboard boxes and yarn. The yarn is what is keeping the man and box tied to the red bench. This bench has chipped paint and is right in front of a black fence. Underneath the bench is dirt and debris from the dead fall leaves. The center focal point is the homeless man on the bench. He is the focal point because he is the greatest outsider known to man. Behind this man is vibrant life. There is pulsating people crossing the clean street, signs of life from all the advertising on store windows, families walking and blurred cars filled with
“The world is a dangerous place, not because of those who do evil, but because of those who look on and do nothing.” (Albert Einstein). “Flavio’s Home,” written by Gordon Parks, can be considered one of Parks’ most memorable photography works. Parks’, enduring much hardship of his own as a teenager, turned his struggles around and used it as inspiration for others. His article tells of a twelve-year old boy and his family, stricken by poverty. Through an acutely informative and subtly persuasive article, Parks adequately uses pathos, diction, syntax, and imagery to tell his readers about why and how poverty “is the most savage of all human afflictions.” Speaking to his Life Magazine readers, Parks’ purpose for writing this article is to first
In "On Dumpster Diving," Eighner is delivering the message that society needs to only depend on items that, to them, express certain value, and to clarify that Dumpster diving is a way of life, not an immoral, greedy practice. Eighner wants readers to not only have respect for the poor, but to strive for efficiency by being less
In the text “On Dumpster Diving”, by Lars Eighner is about a man who speaks of being a homeless man joined by his pet, named Lizbeth. Not exclusively does he clarify his procedures living out of dumpsters, yet in addition the lessons he has learned as a scavenger. Above all I think the genuine message he was attempting to get cross over is that we waste more than we think we do, and it's in our nature as humans. He had built up a great deal of involvement in recognizing on what was protected to eat and what wasn't. He specified eating from a dumpster is the thing that isolates the dilettanti from the experts. Eighner passed by three standards, presence of mind, knowing the Dumpsters and checking them consistently, and looking for dependably
Filmed for nearly three years, Waste Land follows famed artist Vik Muniz as he journeys from his home in Brooklyn to his native Brazil and the world's largest landfill, Jardim Gramacho, situated on the outskirts of Rio de Janeiro. There he photographs an eccentric band of catadores, otherwise known as garbage pickers. The catadores are a definitive marginalized populace; jobless in any conventional sense, they turn to picking profitable recyclable materials from the junk discarded by those in Brazil luckier than themselves. Depicted in the documentary is a culture unlike any other that I have ever seen. The people within this isolated culture live in the most horrifying conditions imaginable. They are isolated from society along with the essence of life itself; their homes and lives revolve around a place filled with garbage, trash, and discarded and unwanted items. Therefore, it is impossible to fathom how the people that dwell here don't feel as
This story explains the science behind dumpster diving and the different techniques people use to scavenge for treasures that was once other people's trash. The author, Lars Eighner, talks about the pros and cons of searching through dumpsters to find food or other items that could be useful when you do not have much money to spend on essentials. Lars Eighner told multiple stories of crazy things he would find that people would just throw away. He Explains why a college campus is one of his favorite places to scavenge through dumpsters because of all of the spoiled kids who are very wasteful and just throw stuff away. He says, “Students throw out canned goods and staples at the end of the semesters and when they give up college at
Can you ever imagine yourself being homeless or penniless and having to dumpster dive? In the essay, “On Dumpster Diving”by Lars Eighner, he explains his experience in dumpster diving and what he has gone through, from getting sick to being successful. If I were Lars Eighner the location that I would have chosen to dumpster dive is Pleasanton because of the high percentage of wealthy people, low percentage of homeless people, and a strong chance of finding food.
From above, the world of the Jardim Gramacho landfill appears to be nothing more than garbage with the catadores (pickers)—as small and as insignificant as ants—sorting through the rubbish. The workers collect and sell recyclable items in hazardous conditions, earning around USD $20 per day. Yet in Lucy Walker’s “Waste Land,” the garbage of Rio de Janeiro is transformed into fine art as Brazilian artist, Vik Muniz, seeks to humanize the marginalized catadores of Brazilian society. The film focuses on the people Muniz encounters and ultimately photographs for his collection of portraits, entitled “Pictures of Garbage.” The documentary follows the life of the catadores as they collaborate with Muniz on stunning pieces of modern art made from
In the essay, “On Dumpster Diving”, Eigner, Lars describes how he became homeless and how living on the streets is very difficult; he had to resort to eating from the trash and used this term called dumpster diving. Equally, I was interpreting a line caught my eye and astoundingly, I allude myself to him because we were similar in some ways. (13-14) “I began Dumpster Diving about a year before I became homeless. I prefer the term “scavenging” and the use of the word “scrounging”. People dumpster diving, Eigner describes is the way life for homeless people, that’s how they live. Eigner also wasn’t the only living thing that was dumpster diving, also little critters and animals that were homeless or abandoned. I have never done that, but I see people do that all the time because I live in the city. If I ever became homeless I would definitely resort to dumpster diving because I have seen many homeless people and some of them I remember them when I was a child. I thi...
Eliot, T. S., and Michael North. The Waste Land: Authoritative Text, Contexts, Criticism. New York: W.W. Norton, 2001. Print.
Disposal of e-waste is one of the major problems faced in America. Despite being financially sound, America has no proper infrastructure built for safe disposal of e-waste. The vast majority of e-waste, "collected from consumers and recycling depots by middlemen," is landfilled, or simply stockpiled. Then, searching for cheaper ways to dispose of it, shipped to developing countries in Asia under the pretext of "recycling" or "donating."
Traditional methods of waste disposal have proven to be ineffective and have caused harmful effects on the environment. The most popular and inexpensive way to get rid of garbage is burial, but burying your problems does not necessarily mean getting rid of them. Landfill sites pose as severe ecological threats as these mass garbage dump yards overflow with trash and frequently contaminate our air, soil and water with hazardous wastes. About 400 million tons of hazardous wastes are generated each year1. A large-scale release of these materials can cause thousands of deaths and may poison the environment for many years. For example many industrial companies around the world cannot afford to enforce the strict pollution regulations set by many developed countries. This usually forces these types of companies to move to developing countries where pollution regulations are very lenient. These developing countries knowingly accept environmentally hazardous companies usually because they are in desperate need of employment. The harmful effects of these companies were clearly illustrated in the 1960s and 1970s when residents living near Minamata Bay, Japan, developed nervous disorders, tremors, and paralysis in a mysterious epidemic. The root was later found to be a local industry that had released mercury, a highly toxic element, into Minamata Bay. The disaster had claimed the lives of 400 people1. Since 1970 you can bet that a lot more than 400 people have died as a result of waste disposal. If the type of waste disposal were cheaper and effective we wouldn’t have to deal with waste problems, which still plague mankind today.
The United States produces “about 8.25 billion tons of solid wastes each year” (Russell 1). People do not realize the impact they have on our planet and environment. When people throw anything in the trashcan, they are contributing to the destruction of our planet. The number landfills in the United States are decreasing, but the amount and volume of waste being thrown into the new landfills is increasing (Russell 4). Because of this escalating amount of garbage, Methane which contributes to global warming is an outcome of these landfills (Russell 7). As a result, our planet is suffering because of this epidemic. The garbage being put in the landfills could be recycled, but not enough businesses, ...
America and Europe are at the top of the list for most waste generated according to Waste (4). This is very visible because there’s litter on every street in the towns and cities, as well in lakes, beaches, and rivers. The book Waste by Rob Bowden states that the amount of waste produced is increasing at a rate faster than population growth. About 1.5 million computers, in the U.K, are thrown away each year and most end up in landfills. There are 3 types of waste which are Municipal Solid Waste, Industrial Waste, and Hazardous waste. MSW includes waste from public garbage cans and local dumpsters. Industrial Waste includes massive amounts of waste water that is contaminated with chemicals. Hazardous waste is the most dangerous as it presents a danger to human health and the environment. Solutions for waste disposal take time because people need to consider their lifestyle and limit the amount of waste they generate. A good start is to recycle items such as paper, cans, plastic, and clothes. This way they don’t end up in landfills, beaches, or streets. Another solution is to join organizations that go around places to recycle, or organizations that demand the reduction in the amount of products that are being