Rifiuti domestici

A garbage dumpster in Spormaggiore, Trentino, Italy. Household garbage is brought to this or other bins located in central spots throughout town (no curbside garbage collection). In summer 2009 they began a new key system where residents insert an electronic key to open the dumpster and are billed regularly for their garbage disposal. Recycling dumpsters are adjacent. Organics collection and used battery bins are located elsewhere throughout the town. (August 2009)

Bote de la basura

Mostly full of plastic water bottles. A litter bin on a walk up to El Faro (world's tallest natural lighthouse) in Mazatlàn, Sinaloa, Mexico. Graffiti and greenery. Surrounding view: the Pacific coast and a sewage treatment plant. (December 2009)

Welcome to the world through a trash receptacle!

What's the story here?
I like to think about objects and the value and meanings we associate with them. I like to think about waste and people and place - and how people in different places relate to, sort and deal with what we label as waste, litter, recyclables, organics, compost, rubbish, garbage, or trash.

A garbage bin is part of the biography of a thing. It can be convenient, innovative, an eye-sore, an advertising space, decorated, painted, hidden, private, public, intentionally placed. It can be just another static object in our landscape or it can teach us something.

You are welcome to send photos from wherever you are in this world. Thanks for being a part of the story!