IS TRASH GOLD OR PYRITE IN ANOTHER MANS HANDS

Is Trash Gold or Pyrite In Another Mans Hands?

Evaluating Culture, Economics, and Innovation of Waste Management
Makayla Brown
Global Studies and World Languages Academy
Tallwood High School

IS TRASH GOLD OR PYRITE IN ANOTHER MANS HANDS

Abstract
Trash means nothing to the person that threw it away, but how far away does trash go and
how does it impact wherever away really is? In some places another places trash can become a
treasured resource, but it comes with its costs. In America, milk jugs have expiration dates, but
the container on which that label is printed will decompose in over 200 years. The volume of
trash grows as a consequence of the exponential population growth. There are global initiatives
to decrease the number of landfills. But the numbers do not add up. Who sees the value in trash
and wants it? Or are we dumping our disposed and broken toys on our developing nations, like
hand-me downs?
For the sake of this paper, waste management investigates the design of products that
make them eligible for recycling, the cultural considerations for effective systems, the
exploitation of the impoverished, and the ingenuity that importing waste can generate. There
must be benefits and consequences of reintroducing trash into the global economy as a resource;
otherwise, developing economies would be reluctant to pollute their habitats with imported trash.

IS TRASH GOLD OR PYRITE IN ANOTHER MANS HANDS

Table Of Contents

ABSTRACT...............................................................................................2
TABLE OF CONTENTS.................................................................................3
INTRODUCTION........................................................................................4
LIMITATIONS...........................................................................................5
TIME FOR OBSERVANCE................................................................................................... 5
TRAFFICKING SYSTEMS................................................................................................... 5
SOCIAL STIGMAS........................................................................................................... 5
HEALTH PROBLEMS........................................................................................................ 6
RESEARCH CONSTRAINTS................................................................................................ 6
METHODOLOGY.......................................................................................6
LITERATURE REVIEW................................................................................8
CASE STUDIES CROSS CULTURALLY.................................................................................... 8
ECONOMIC VALUE OF WASTES........................................................................................... 9
FUTURE INNOVATIONS AND PITFALLS................................................................................10
BODY....................................................................................................11
PRODUCT LIFE CYCLE.................................................................................................. 11
Designers and Producers.......................................................................................... 13
Consumers............................................................................................................ 14
CULTURAL CHALLENGES............................................................................................... 15
Population Growth and Poverty.................................................................................. 15
Social Stigma......................................................................................................... 16
CASHED TRASH AND TRAFFICKING..................................................................................16
Dumping on the Developing....................................................................................... 16
GLOBAL INNOVATIONS.................................................................................................. 18
Reimagining Niche.................................................................................................. 18
CONCLUSION.........................................................................................20
REFERENCES..........................................................................................21
APPENDIX A...........................................................................................25

Is Trash Gold or Pyrite In Another Mans Hands?

IS TRASH GOLD OR PYRITE IN ANOTHER MANS HANDS

Evaluating Culture, Economics, and Innovation of Waste Management

Introduction
Civilizations throughout time have one thing in common; waste. Humans are predisposed
to simply move unwanted products to another area because if it is out of sight, then it is out of
mind. For some, management consists of tossing unwanted materials out of a homes window
into the bustling streets, or into a bin where the contents are systematically whisked out of sight.
Dumping waste and trash on others accelerates the rate of exposure to diseases. The world today
is so connected that every decision made affects how we cohabitate. Yet, trash disposal tend to be
something most people know very little about.
Removing waste directly from one area and sending it to another creates a problem
somewhere else in the world where it will either exploit the rights of those who are subjected to
the environmental consequences or be exploited for economic gain. The modern world is seeing
technological revolutions in developed nations and industrial revolutions in some developing
nations. This forecast of urbanization means that more people are living more closely together,
which can cause waste systems to be less efficient.
Ever since the turn of the first industrial revolution there has been exponential growth in
the population. A growing population also means the demand of resources would increase
exponentially to volumes that have not been dealt with before. As technology continues to
increase the quality of life for the wealthiest nations, it continues to decrease the quality of life
for the impoverished, long after being rendered unimportant. People should be concerned with
where their waste goes because it rarely disappears. In reality the trash of today is dumped onto
someone else. To cope, people must make decisions on how to handle the unwanted. Todays
world faces a growing demand for engineers who can optimize management systems or find
ways to recover materials that could build tomorrow.

IS TRASH GOLD OR PYRITE IN ANOTHER MANS HANDS

Limitations
Although waste requires attention daily in every location, there are several limitations
that exist on how much research can take place.
Time for observance.
Although some studies may synthesize the history of how humans dealt with the issue of
waste disposal over time, there is little to no data available for prehistoric comparison. For
information on this period, anthropologists can only hypothesize about ancient lifestyles with
supporting artifacts. Much of the information is only reported by compliant businesses that do
not see transparency as a threat.
Trafficking systems.
Humans create waste all over the globe. The research provided will be limited to (specific
regions of the world). However, case studies of particular cities may not reflect the systems of
the entire country. It is evident that trafficking in a slum will appear differently from trafficking
internationally.
Social stigmas.
Society tends to overlook the waste end of product. So the people who deal with them are
not as well recognized. In some cases working with trash and fecal matter receives a lower
status, but the generalization is not true of every individual in the culture. Often times these are
average jobs in the culture to keep families out of poverty.
Health problems.
Health problems attributed to sanitation and waste are compiled from harvesters reports
and city data. Certainly, it should be noted not all cases trace the source of ailment or condition
back to the waste unless directly reported. Some causes of health issues are still unaccounted for

IS TRASH GOLD OR PYRITE IN ANOTHER MANS HANDS

and can cause health issues over extended lengths of exposure aside from singular incidents.
Health in this paper will also examine socioeconomic health of the region in which these crimes
occur.
Research constraints.
As a minor, living in Virginia Beach, attending public high school the majority of the
data will be collected via online databases, text resources, and personal interviews due to time
restrictions, lack of funding, and legal capabilities of a minor.
Methodology
Measuring all the accumulated trash and waste created by the average person varies by
definition and data collection method globally. To gather uniform data, my action will be a
system in which students globally collect trash from the road and weigh the amount of waste that
is in the environment. This data will account for differences by dividing the original data in
pounds by the total area that the students collected from to calculate the weight of trash per
square foot. Then the participating groups will report back on what types of waste they found.
Finally, in either a web conference or interview, questions will be asked to provoke the panel to
explore solutions that could reduce the amount of pollution further.
Interviews will also be utilized to discover what leads people to work in the waste
management industry, how innovative methods of recycling are helping communities, and bring
personal accounts of how social stigmas affect the life of workers. The first interview was
conducted on the Olongapo City, Philippines council member Jong Cortez. This was originally
held in person on a American-Philippine student exchange through Tallwood High School. The
Cortez family was also contacted again to answer follow up questions. Secondly, Virginia Beach
City Waste Management was reached via phone to answer questions. Some of their employees
were able to take a minute to answer questions while on their routes as well. Tallwood High

IS TRASH GOLD OR PYRITE IN ANOTHER MANS HANDS

School janitors and Sentara Hospital Workers were also interviewed. The personal answers
expound upon the social aspect of the waste issue at hand.(More information on names, dates,
and education levels to come.)
Additionally extensive research will contribute to the growing issue of waste. Academic
literatures, such as journals, magazines, and newspaper articles, are adjunct to the original
research and provide a macroscopic look on the data presented on waste management globally.
Numerous articles offered detailed descriptions of the waste management systems in different
regions of the world and how the waste impacted the health, wealth, and culture of the people.
Waste Management (WM) provides many detailed articles that outline the present and future of
landfills while also recognizing the economic potential. The Zero Waste Initiative program in
Europe will also be a large source of data that represents member nations of the European Union
(EU). A table of how the member nations report to dispose their waste ican be seen in Appendix
B. A few TED Talks reinforced the importance of effective waste management. TED Talks gather
the recorded presentations of experts on topics that provide new paradigms, important research,
and inspirational short stories. Many speakers also showed appreciation of people who undertake
the daunting task of removing waste from the environment. TED Talks also discuss the
relationships between innovations location, economy, and culture.
Literature Review
As developing and developed nations begin to globalize and the human population
continues to grow exponentially, the amount of products consumed rises and generates waste at
rates that have never been seen before. Through these sources it is statistically evident that waste
systems need to be reengineered for the growing world. Several pieces of literature have been
produced to examine how socioeconomic practices affect cultures, if the recovery of waste
products is economically reasonable for business, and the future of waste disposal and recycling.

IS TRASH GOLD OR PYRITE IN ANOTHER MANS HANDS

Case studies cross culturally.

The following sources contributed to the cultural effects of the waste industry. Teddy
Cruz also examines how the transaction of recycled goods has lead to ingenuity across the border
of Southern California and Tijuana, Mexico. He noticed the political, social, and economic
marginalization drove people to learn to live on less and to design more effectively rather than
become absorbed by the culture of consumption. (Source) This seems to be true of other
developing areas in places such as such as Egypt, South Africa, Ghana, and the Philippines. The
article about Coptic Christians in Cairo, Egypt was from an academic journal that was published
on a database. In this article the idea that the impoverished may benefit from sorting the waste is
introduced. Not only do they get paid by the volume to recycle, but the resources are recycled.
However, a plethora of trash is stored and sorted in Cairo. It is possible that the Garbage City
itself has some strain put onto it buy the overflow of trash.
Another source from TED Talks focused on the necessity of sanitary living conditions.
The speaker, Francis de los Reyes, represented a team of students from North Carolina State
University while visiting South Africa to work on projects that would optimize the human waste
removal. His fascination with toilets is driven by the impact everyday systems have on the well
being of the community (De los Reyes). Ghana has experienced waste management issues
according to a report done in Sekondi-Takoradi. The challenges they face originated from
inadequate funding, lack of workers due to the social stigmas, and consumer apathy. This
research highlights the negative consequences of poor sanitation and waste collection.
The Zero Waste Europe initiative investigated the European Union member nations
disposal habits to conclude which of the states had outperformed the rest. Surprisingly Estonia
has been named most recently as the most efficient member nation. This study is reflective of
how the percentage of recycled material should also take the amount that was originally

IS TRASH GOLD OR PYRITE IN ANOTHER MANS HANDS

consumed in to consideration. (Estonia 2014). The increasing issue of sustainable goods and
households throwing money away has also led some business to redesign products. Lisa
Acaroglu, a product designer, covers the antiquated nature of the American refrigerator and the
wasteful behavior of the consumers who use the electric teakettle in her TED Talk. (interviews
with American workers)
Economic value of wastes.
A few resources explain how the exportation of trash has become an international
transaction. Three sources mentioned the proper disposal of electronic waste. Although one
source concentrated solely on cell phones, the information was still useful. The documentary on
electronic waste trafficking in South Africa presented the most generalized version of how
junked electronics are dealt with. In most places the shipments become an illegal business in
which the scraps are stripped for valuable materials or internal hard drives are read for credit
card information. This shows that consumers really need to be conscious of how they dispose of
products, because the device will end up in another persons hands. According to an article in
The Economist the United States of America has been selling trash to China. Not only do
enterprises make money off of these ventures, but also they can evade certain environmental
laws by performing the toxic deconstruction in another location.
This is economically unstable and unhealthy practice kills the communities that are
subjected to the corruption. However, desperation in poverty will push people to work harder for
less to stay alive. In the Philippines the landfills are dotted with lean-tos and makeshift shacks.
Toby Cortez from the Philippines explained the conditions that people are forced into when they
lack proper education, adequate food, and a well paying job. Some children do not attend school
because their family needs them to spend time collecting trash to find money in hopes of
sustaining their family. Waste Management Global has estimated that human sorting is more

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dangerous and more expensive than redesigning landfills with sustainability in mind. Technology
extracts the useful materials more safely and more effectively in large quantities. Unfortunately,
the financial gains are not profitable, so very few people with the power to help are invested in
landfill mining and reclamation (Mavropoulos 2013).
Future innovations and pitfalls.
A number of sources illuminated pockets of ingenuity globally that changed the way
products are used, but not all are successful. In the interview with Jong Cortez, an Olongapo
City, Philippines councilman, he talked about the public transportation in the Philippines. After
World War II, New Yorks taxi became the model for recycled jeeps and created a new business.
Natively known as Jeepneys, the decorative vehicles bus people around and may be the reason
why Olongapo is named one of the most sustainable cities in the Philippines. This has turned the
life cycle of military jeeps into a circular one rather than a linear one. Waste Management Global
encourages this type of development when looking for sustainable options for the future. They
published an article to predict what the trash can may become by 2050. There are two futures
that they foresee. However, both utilize advanced technologies to change the product life cycle
(Messenger 2013). Waste Management in America also works to make landfills interactive.
Some old sites have been converted for outdoor activities like golf courses. The City of Virginia
Beach reimagined its hills of trash as a playground, park, and rolling hills for public enjoyment.
Most projects like this seem like chimerical feats, but the reutilization of waste can benefit
communities. According to Zero Waste EU, the process is economically insane, but long term
environmental affects open land for restoration and the waste can be incinerated to generate
energy.

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Body
Waste management represents larger global issues beyond the need to dispose of products
properly. Other contributing factors to the influx of waste include exponential population growth,
developed nations marketing trash and labor to developing nations, and the lack of systems to
incorporate trash into the global economy. Entrepreneurs, engineers, and everyday people deal
with the challenge of evaluating the costs and benefits that solid waste could yield. The value of
waste fluctuates with the ability to harvest the reusable resources. Waste never truly goes away;
the byproducts of consumerism can exploit the needs of the impoverished, deteriorate
environmental health, increase trash trafficking, and provoke engineers to create innovative
solutions. A panacea does not exist for waste treatment simply because not all systems can
function under the same constraints. Human ingenuity, resource availability, and affordability
must be integrated into an effective systems design to tackle the issue.
Product Life Cycle
Most products are made to appeal to consumers who tend to appreciate the contents more
than the production costs and potential for others to use later on. Most products that get junked
become effete in product graveyards. Yet, sorted garbage bins suffer different fates depending on
the infrastructure of the region. European countries hold high regards for a circular product life
because it reduces their dependency on foreign trade for resources. Developing nations in Asia
and Africa receive much of the worlds dumped goods, while North America enjoys the luxury of
new commodities.
The gross domestic product (GDP) of a nation tends to be an indictor of how much they
will consume. For every 1% rise in GDP per capita is .69% increase in waste per capita. Nations
with higher the GDP per capita tend to market more complex and luxury items that require more
energy for creation. The average North American (person) generates about 20 tons of CO2-eq

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each year. The global average carbon footprint is about 4 tons of CO 2-eq per year (Walser 2010).
As observed in Appendix A, the countries with high GDP per capita have higher CO 2 emissions.
The increased disposable income allows them more economic freedom to purchase more items
for consumption.
As of 2006 nearly 55% of American trash products end up in landfills, 12.5% are
incinerated, while another 13% are recycled (Walser 2010). In the last 50 years, American waste
management corporations laboriously reduced the number of landfills while increasing the
volume of individual sites. The capacity has not shifted, so how did this combat the
ineffectiveness of waste management in America? The reduction of landfill site may sound like a
fait accompli, but in reality this has increased the distance that waste travels. Trash produced in
one country may not even remain in that country. America is known for selling trash on barges to
developing nations because it has difficulty manufacturing goods that survive on circular chains
rather than linear ones. There is a growing distance, geographically as well as mentally,
between consumers and their waste (Clapp 2010).
Designers and Producers
Ecofriendly options can be deceiving because they elude informing customers how the
product or service improves the life cycle. Lisa Acaroglu comes to the conclusion in her speech
that although paper seems like the obvious material for disposable grocery bags, plastic bags are
the better choice. Plastic may derive from petroleum products, but paper bag production
contributes to deforestation. The process also has higher costs for transportation because paper is
heavier per square inch. Paper bags are also single use. Once the bag is disposed of the range of
products that can made from the material is limited. Making paper bags leads to an inevitable
negative consequence, whereas plastic bags can be recycled to produce various new products.
Consumers tend to assume that if a product is biodegradable, then it is better for the

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environment. Plastic is photodegradable, so when in landfills plastics will breakdown from the
suns energy (Acaroglu 2013). However, natural products need oxygen to decompose. Landfills
are anaerobic environments that will prevent disintegration. Organic products will breakdown
and emit methane into the atmosphere which exacerbates the greenhouse effect.
When designing products it is imperative to remember consumer friendly interfaces and
the afterlife. A Non-Government Organization (NGO) opted to install latrines in slums in South
Africa. Unfortunately the stalls filled with human waste and there was no system to remove the
feces. The well-intentioned project served a temporary fix. Without instituting proper
infrastructure, the users were relegated to old unsanitary habits of open defecation (De Los
Reyes 2013). Waste Management particularly loves to engage in community projects that turn
waste into useful resources. Once a product is obsolete it should be returned to the ecosystem.
Unlike humans, incineration and burial are not the only options. A product can be deconstructed
for raw materials. Older models of household appliances, mobile phones, and machinery
complicate this process because the end of the product was never intended to be recycled. The
costs of deconstructing cell phones is significantly cheaper than extracting gold ore (Acaroglu
2013), but the human health and environmental costs are detrimental when performed without
proper equipment.
Consumers
An important part of the cycle is in the consumption of the goods and those that scavenge
the waste in search of semi-valuable remains. In some regions of the world, the impoverished
rely on the trash of consumers to make a living. Systems in some places are son efficient that a
weekly pick up to whisk away the waste from residential and industrial locations frees people to
worry about other problems. Most have no clue how far and who may receive their trash. There
are entire cites in built upon consumption of resources that are not available to the environment,

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i.e. New York, Las Vegas, Dubai, and Hong Kong (Cruz 2013). Conversely there are
communities that live off of heaps of rubbish, i.e. the Coptic Christians in Cairo, the
impoverished in the Manila, and the marginalized along the border of Tijuana. Some primary
consumers could care less about where their junk goes or who manages the process. Others are
stuck in behavioral patterns that foster wastefulness.
In England, household appliances are a huge problem when it comes to energy efficiency.
The problem originates in the routines of the consumers. Nearly one third of all food products
are thrown away simply because they went bad in the refrigerator. People overestimate what they
may need. So as long as they have the space to purchase, they have space to store excess. Not
only may a head of lettuce spoil, but the energy and resources that went into growing the produce
gets wasted. Teakettles also seem to generate unnecessary waste. From a survey 65% of Britons
admit to overfilling their teakettles when they only require a single serving. With all the energy
used to boil the excess water, all of the streetlamps in the United Kingdom could be lit for one
night. The consumers also create a massive surge of power when they turn on their kettles. A
man in a power control room rushes to buy nuclear energy from France. All of this trouble is due
to the commercial break when tea drinkers are most likely to get up and turn their kettles on
(Acaroglu 2013).
Cultural Challenges
Large scale manufacturing surrounding World War II encouraged industrialization and
urbanization to stimulate economies that had been affected by the Great Depression. Global mass
production generated volumes of imports that had not been traded before. The result complicated
the trash trail, which consumers know less about than source of their products and the actual
disposal beyond the trash bin (Clapp 2010). With the production rates meeting demand,

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technology and finished products were mass-produced. For every 1% rise in GDP per capita is .
69% increase in waste per capita.
Population Growth and Poverty
Urbanization and industrialization booms and the conditions almost always
decline. President Obama named Ghana as an African country that other countries should model
themselves after. Ghana is experiencing an economic flourishing and is one of the more
modernized nations in Africa. However, the attraction of oil and other businesses has lead people
to flock to the cities in waves for find well paying jobs. In the city of Sekondi-Takoradi
Metropolis, waste bins had gone emptied for weeks because some residents could not afford the
service. Once it began to visually pollute the environment city management lowered the costs for
garbage collection, fining those who dumped in public space, and allowed citizens to form
coalitions to pull waste from the gutter and roads.
Social Stigma
As the population continues to grow, smaller percentages of people aspire to be janitors,
garbage people, or waste system engineers. Such an important role should be redeeming and
filled with reward but the workers are often the ghosts of society. (interviews) In Ghana, it
sometimes takes a community effort to properly dispose of municipal waste. However in Cairo,
women are not allowed to work with the trash, for it is seen as a mans job.
Last resorts by the desperate in poverty and lower castes carry out disposal systems
abroad. India employs the untouchables to clean the waste. Little to no protective gear is offered
for these people, and the chances of improper disposal are significantly increased. (Ghana,
Coptic Christians, Philippines, South Africa, in comparison to the EU(Zero Waste))

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Cashed Trash and Trafficking

Though many would hope scavengers help sort through reusable resources from actual
waste out of the good of their heart, many scavengers are incentivized by the monetary rewards.
This in not only a source of income for the impoverished, but has been incorporated into the
alternative energy business and global waste trafficking. Landfills that increate trash sometimes
put that energy output forth into a turbine that powers a generator. In European countries this
method is common and can fuel nearly 10,000 homes (Zero Waste Europe 2014). But in
America, this type of energy only account for .8% of the energy used. The remaining volumes
are dumped and sold to other countries that buy the waste in order to salvage what they can of
the resources.
Dumping on the Developing
Ghana and China import significant amounts of trash from America. Europeans
and Canadians contribute as well. The type of waste that they prefer to receive is E-waste.
E-waste refers to electronic devices that have been discarded. According a businessman
in the PBS Documentary, Ghana: The Digital Dumping Ground, nearly 50% of the
electronics are incapable of functioning. Broken technology is scrapped for he precious
metals inside. Harvesting gold from technology is cheaper than harvest gold ore from
natural resources (Acaroglu 2013). In China computers are boiled while in Ghana they
are burned to extract gold, aluminum, and copper from the gear. These processes pollute
the air and surrounding bodies of water. The Occupational Safety & Health
Administration (OSHA) reported that the main toxin released when burning complex
tech, like computers, cell phones, and TVs, is cadmium. Overexposure to this element
can result in lung, bone, and kidney disease.

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However, the more valuable junk is stored in the functioning hard drives of the
junked e-waste products. Ghana has the highest rate of internet identity theft crime in
Africa (Ghana 2011). This is because the 50% of working gadgets store the memory from
the previous owner on the hard drive. Ghanaians have turned this business into major
scamming opportunities. They have recovered hard drives and confidential information
from military contractors and American government agencies such as NASA, the
Department of Defense, and Homeland Security. China has no laws concerning e-waste
which allows businesses to sell trash to the Chinese without penalty.
Dumping does not always have negative effects. A section of Cairos slums are
covered in heaps of trash. Although this may look unappealing and unsanitary, the
efficiency of the recycling system of the Zabbaleen is remarkable. Almost 90 percent of
the garbage is recycled, which is four times the percentage most Western recycling
companies produce(Tawsam 2013). The Coptic Christians that occupy most of the
livable space there benefit from collecting the trash because they can turn it into a
profitable business.
Global Innovations
Obsolete technologies and ideas may fill landfills and pollute environments globally, but
new technology can help in restructuring a more efficient waste management infrastructure in
certain countries. Technology and gizmos may not be the answer for every culture or region
depending on the funding and the workforce available. Consumption will continue to rise, so if
materials can be repurposed with out without alteration then the scarcity for available resources
may be temporarily assuaged until we hit the carrying capacity of human population for our
ecosystem. Developing countries will continue to make new products while other cultures may
just adapt the obsolete technology, such as Nokia cell phones that have the same basic abilities as

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the iPhone but live longer in the consumers hands. Developed nations can turn pyrite into gold
with the right amount of engineering and minimal amount of function fixedness
Reimagining Niche
Thrifting can be a nifty treasure hunt for high value collectors items from the past, but
when is comes to trash, the older the junk the less it is worth. Except for when it comes to
composting natural materials. Composting is a way of preventing the aforementioned (under
Consumers) organic materials from producing methane at landfills. A well-managed compost
facility is fundamentally an aerobic process, which does not produce methane. According to the
Composting Council, if everyone in the United States composted all of their food waste, the
impact would be equivalent to removing 7.8 million cars from the road (Regent 2010).
Composting allows materials that originated from nature to break down again and create a less
chemically potent, nutrient rich, and environmentally friendly topsoil. It helps create a circular
lifecycle for products that would just be tossed away to die in a landfill.
Another ingenious prevention of useful products heading to landfills occurs along
the border of Southern California and Tijuana. Following WWII, suburban development in
Southern California began to replace militarized equipment. Cookie cutter houses with huge
lawns and multiple garage homes were adjacent to a border where American military trailers
were having stilts attached to build second stories to homes. In Tijuana, the original house
sometimes became the base for an office while the raised mobile homes became their permanent
homes. Eventually garage doors in California were replaced with new ones that could fit more
cars, so the excess was sold beyond the border to the urbanized Tijuana. In this town they
repurposed the garage doors as siding for the houses they had built.
Mexicans are not the only culture repurposing WWII items left by the Americans. In the
Philippines there is a taxi system similar to the iconic New York City taxi. One of the many

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modes of public transportation is the Jeepney. Unlike the taxi, there are no private rides. The
vehicles originated after the Pacific Campaign in WWII and the Americans left their military
Jeeps behind. Jeeps were painted colors to represent the city they came from and the Jeepney
drivers personalize each one with a name and personality. The rides are cheap and abundant.
Although the Philippines could have sold and scrapped all of the vehicles to pay off war debt, the
cities kept them for potential use by their own military. Today, they are an emerging symbol for
how American seeds are planted in other countries where a new perspective creates a large
business. In the past year the Philippines reduced greenhouse gas emissions by 180,000 cars.
According to Jong Cortez, an Olongapo City council member, the public transportation is one of
the reasons that Olongapo was recognized as one of the most sustainable cities in the Philippines
Conclusion
Consumer culture and inadequate waste disposal has brewed a storm of social and
economic marginalization while spurring people to realize that landfills are mass graves. Product
designers, landfill engineers, and consumers are awakening to see that materials should work on
circular life plans rather than linear ones to benefit the economy. To continue the circular motion
of the product life cycle consumer interfaces must be designed more responsibly, waste must be
sorted effectively, and landfill plants should produce energy. Waste is usually pyrite in poverty,
luring people into hazardous environments for small economic gains. Materials found, like gold,
can be extracted and refined for lower quality products. Proper extraction is expensive, so some
developed nations send their waste abroad for cheaper labor and deconstruction. Poverty is
underestimated and the opportunists exploit these systems to gain as much as possible.
The trash rush is far less exciting and has a slower return than the gold rush, but in the
right hands waste is a brick, regardless of its value. Trash has the potential to build the
foundation for the future because an abundance of resources are locked within landfills now.

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People can change the course of how much they leave for others to deal with today, tomorrow,
and maybe even bring yesterdays trash into the future. Learning from natural cycles, humans
will discover the possibilities to build a better future when the end of a products life is not
corrupting the ecosystem, rather it is fueling and building homes across the globe.

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References
Acaroglu, L. (2013, February). Paper beats plastic? How to rethink environmental folklore.
Speech presented at TED Talk. Retrieved May 16, 2014, from
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nmental_folklore
And the best waste performing country in Europe is Estonia! [Web log post]. (2014, January
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Appendix A

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IS TRASH GOLD OR PYRITE IN ANOTHER MANS HANDS

Appendix B

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