OF ART AND GARBAGE: Attitudes and Shared Responsibility

Is there a better way to dispose of garbage and other items we do not need any more than just unmindfully dumping them in the trash bins?

Many often look upon garbage disposal as a menial task that doesn't need any thinking, creative or otherwise, and meant only to be done by helpers and cleaners.

Yet our current pollution and climate concerns lead us back to the manner by which we accumulate and dispose of garbage or things we do not anymore find useful.

GARBAGE DISPOSAL AT HOME LEVEL

Vienna has been voted as the Best City to Live in the World for 2023. In this city, good waste management practices start in the homes. 

Every house has a dedicated garbage bin for each type of waste material into which children as young as toddlers are trained to properly throw plastic wrappers or containers, paper waste, glass bottles and things that rot.

 

This is reinforced by an educational system that teaches love of and respect for nature and the importance of a clean and green environment, not only for humans but for plants and animals as well.

Consequently, government efforts and resources are focused on addressing bigger, environmental issues rather than day to day waste management concerns.

Suffice it to say that just like any life value, the way we treat garbage is an attitude and behavior we have to learn early in life - at home from our parents at a very young age - and carried on by way of habit as we mature and grow older. Don't you think so?

GARBAGE DISPOSAL AT COMMUNITY LEVEL

Vienna has 400,000 garbage receptacles distributed all over the city. Every street has its own garbage receptacle designated and marked for paper, plastic, white bottles, colored bottles, bio-degradable and non-biodegradables.

Residents who have segregated their garbage at home can deposit them in the designated receptacles any time of the day. Here, it is not uncommon to see residents dressed in office clothes carrying a bag of garbage for dumping in the bins. You see them walk their dogs, pick up their pet's litter with a plastic bag on hand, and throw them into designated dog litter boxes.  

Garbage trucks manned by "the men and women in orange" pick them up early in the morning six times a week and bring the already segregated trash to a garbage collection center for recycling, composting or incineration for energy generation.

To effectively achieve these purposes, an awareness campaign by the city government emphasizes the importance of waste avoidance and correct waste segregation at home coupled with proper disposal in the receptacles by residents.  Waste segregation is very important when they process kitchen refuse for conversion into organic fertilizer. 

Big items that cannot fit in the receptacles like wooden furniture, electronic and electrical equipment need to be brought to a separate collection center, not as you wish, but at an appointed day and time set by the center. 

This avoids traffic congestion in the area and discourages unnecessary purchases of non-essentials that will eventually cause the resident costly hauling problems and time-consuming inconveniences at disposal time.

GARBAGE, ART AND POLITICAL WILL

Art is beauty, and garbage that stink is not. Can the two come together and create harmony?

The Spittelau Waste Incineration Plant in Vienna is famous worldwide not only for its architectural design, but also for being the second largest thermal energy-producing plant of the city, and possibly in the world. 

Freidensreich Hundertwasser, an Austrian (turned Kiwi) visual artist and architect known for his work called Hundertwasserhaus in Vienna designed this incinerator. Himself an environmentalist, all of his colorful works are always in harmony with nature. 

It has been reported that when the old incineration plant was gutted by fire, then Vienna Mayor Helmut Zilk aimed not just to rebuild it as it was but for the Plant to set new environmental standards, as well as to redesign it like a work of art. Hundertwasser agreed to take up the redesigning task but only after he was assured that only the best environment-friendly incineration technology will be installed in the plant.

Today, this notable landmark in Vienna processes 250,000 tons of household waste per year and produces heating and electricity for around 60,000 homes.

GARBAGE AND SHARED RESPONSIBILITY

Indeed, when political decision makers are willing to commit precious time, funds and political capital to achieve change, coupled with the willingness to take risks and to incur opportunity costs towards that end, there is nothing impossible in solving a gargantuan task such as mounting garbage problems.

Equally important is there has to be a conscious recognition on the part of the public that our garbage problem is a serious one and that a shared responsibility with the government needs to be sustained by way of collective action and change of attitude by the community.

As it has been said, we should all be part of the solution and not the pollution. 

Was sagen Sie? 

Email me at greencraftivist@gmail.com or fill out the comment box below.

Apple Bleza- Morales

About the Author:

Apple is a retired Human Resources professional who is passionately interested in community greening and beautification, organic and ornamental gardening, environment protection and preservation as well as related arts and crafts. She shares her personal and travel experiences in these areas to help in spreading knowledge and information not otherwise accessible to all who are similarly interested or to those who may be inspired to create new ideas from her blogs.

Photos by:  Maybelle Bleza-Morales - Vienna, Austria - October 2023

Credits to: Wien Energie.at for some information gathered from their site.