Mesmerizing Photos of People Lying in a Week’s Worth of Their Trash....
The United States has a trash problem. According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the average American produces more than 4 pounds of garbage per day. That’s more than double the amount produced in 1960, and it’s 50 percent more than the amount produced by Western Europeans. In January, photographer Gregg Segal decided to put some imagery to those numbers. His ongoing series, “7 Days of Garbage,” shows Californian friends, neighbors, and relative strangers lying in the trash they created in one week.
Some of Segal’s subjects volunteered to be a part of the project because they believed in the idea behind it. Others were compensated for participating. Generally, Segal strove to include people from a variety of socioeconomic backgrounds. And while the amount of garbage varies by person, there were some people who produced more garbage than they were willing to bring to the shoot. “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,” Segal said.
Segal used natural materials to transform his yard into artificial environments, like a forest floor or a sandy beach or a body of water, where he photographed all his subjects. "I shot from above to make it very clinical and clean and graphic. It’s kind of a nest, a bed we’re lying in with all this stuff, forcing us to reconcile what we’re producing, which hopefully causes some people to think a little bit more about what they’re consuming,” he said.
Naturally, some people had some hesitation about lying in garbage. “They thought it was kind of gross. I think there’s something mildly humiliating about it, but in a constructive way,” Segal said. “It’s kind of a once in a lifetime experience for people to be photographed with all their stuff. I think it’s seen as a kind of novelty for some people and the question of grossness was mitigated by the novelty factor.”
*snip*
http://www.slate.com/blogs/behold/2014/07/08/gregg_segal_photographs_people_with_a_week_s_worth_of_their_trash_in_his.html?wpsrc=upworthy
More pics at link.
Wow.
= new reply since forum marked as read
recyclable stuff was just being tossed. Some places have mandatory recycle laws. Where my sister lived, you were fined if you didn't recycle properly.
I think I'm either average or below. Like you I try and re-use/re-purpose. After seeing those pictures, I'm going to make a more conscious effort to be better. 
The people in these photos were really going to throw all that stuff away instead of recycling a lot of it.
But I did work with a guy about 20 years ago who I argued with constantly about recycling, and he just absolutely refused to do it. It drove me crazy. He said it was just a waste of his time. 
What bothers me most is buying food in plastic or styrofoam trays, like most prepared foods in grocery stores or meat departments are packed in. I had to buy two plastic shells tonight to get take-out Chinese (a treat I rarely allow myself). I cringe when ever I have to throw things like that in the trash. I especially hate the styrofoam meat trays with the absorbent pads in the bottom.
