Brazil Landfills

http://www.wastelandmovie.com/

This is a link to a documentary film that discusses how Brazil is home to the world's largest garbage dump, Jardim Gramacho. It is located on the outskirts of Rio de Janeiro. The movie shows photographs of an eclectic band of “catadores”—self-designated pickers of recyclable materials. These pickers have been hired to walk through the garbage dump and pick through everyones waste to find recyclable materials. This job was created because so much waste was in the dump that they were running out of space.

How have we as a society gotten to this point? How have we created material and then not have proper ways to dispose of them? We simply try to find places to put our waste, such as a landfill, the ocean, and even space. As consumers we avoid the responsibilities associated with the materials we use everyday. Many times not even giving a second thought to it. People toss there trash into the streets or pour liquids down a storm drain. Recycling is a great way to reuse materials and is slowly being implemented around the world. Communities in many cities don't recycle and as consumers we have a desire to use more than necessary creating waste. Instead of only consuming what is necessary and in the most manageable way, we throw out materials in order to get new, higher tech materials.

The effects of our actions are starting to show and therefor forcing us to reach. As we continue to urbanize our societies and expand we will have to address as a society what to do with our waste. People need to be held responsible and consciously think about were their waste is going. By not taking personally responsibility you are hurting society as a whole.

-Siera Miller