Landscapes of Waste: What’s in a Name?: A Cross-Cultural Comparison of Landfills and Dumps

Conclusions

At U.S. landfills visitors are forbidden to take photographs and must view the manufactured hills of waste from a far-away viewing platform. Citizens would never be allowed to interact with the trash at a landfill. Rather than hiding trash from sight, the dumps in South America expose our waste. In emergent nations, many live off the byproducts of trash at dump sites and, while many seek alternatives to that life, they are thankful to have a legal and dignified outlet through which to earn a living. While some would argue that the United States’ technophilic vision of trash has created a utopia where we see only an inch of the waste we produce, this veil merely conceals the problem of overconsumption and clearly demonstrates the dystopia our modern landfills have constructed. Additionally, the ability by some of the most abject members of society to usurp the garbage surrounding them and create outlets for individuation and self-improvement is stunning. The appropriation of items discarded by the whole of society and recognition of the power they can wield through this waste is the marked difference between individuals in emergent nations and the Western world.
 
 

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