I know that I produce more waste than I should, every little plastic bag from the corner store, every yogurt lid that I toss in the garbage — it all adds up. Recycle, reuse, compost, these are words that get tossed around so much that it’s easy to forget just how much weight they carry in protecting our planet. Just think how disgusting your home would be if you laid out a week’s worth of your trash on the living room floor. Now imagine 52 weeks worth.
Photographer Gregg Segal’s new photos series “7 Days of Garbage” is s thought provoking array of photos of his friends and neighbors surrounded by their trash. We’re producing up to 4 pounds of trash a day, double what was the norm in 1960 and it’s only growing. Some of the photos show more garbage than others, and Segal has a feeling some of his subjects even tidied up a little. Via Slate:
“Of course, there were some people who edited their stuff. I said, ‘Is this really it?’ I think they didn’t want to include really foul stuff so it was just packaging stuff without the foul garbage. Other people didn’t edit and there were some nasty things that made for a stronger image.”
Just looking at the photos is a stark reminder that we should all do more to find ways to cut out the unnecessary trash we produce.
