TOYS AND NATURE

'Our culture has failed to generate a living cosmology that would enable us to hold the sacredness and interconnectedness of life in mind'. Susie Gablik.

Here I am  about to begin composting  natural and man-made materials in the old  fish tank.

This is a grass-roots scientific approach and  the setup does not reflect  what goes on at the tip. Rather, it challenges the perception of "safe waste disposal" at any landfill where possible contamination from household waste cannot be controlled the same way as in a glass container!

But there are similarities in my approach and what happens at the landfill in terms of burying and layering of waste...



Dividing nature and  pseudo landfill

Layers of soil and household waste mixed with toys from the local landfill...now its more real!

More layers of dried grass, manure, toys, manure, paper, manure, ordinary kitchen scraps, manure are being kept moist and were turned every two weeks so. I was told by an environmental scientist that the constant re-shaping of the tip surface actually accelerates the breakdown of materials and  that the mechanics are not unlike a normal composting process in the backyard. 
 

A little graveyard of toys and household waste ....

This clearly shows the difference between  how organic materials break down compared to inorganic materials within 10 – 12 weeks. The toys are only wet and dirty!  

New life sprouts - and yet - would you eat a pumpkin grown at your  local  landfill?

PHASE 2: KEEPING THE STUFF AWAY FROM CLEAN WATER AND OUR AIR

(yes, it's disgusting!)

Creating the final installation - the division of nature and man-made environment - an experiment with toys, compost from previous trials and fresh water and ....fish!

I salvaged the pink toy castle just before it could hit the landfill  -  I got permission by the owner to take it....

Many landfills are covered with grass and turned into sports grounds. This might not have been a problem for pre-industrial revolution landfills but our modern landfills are full of health hazards and living next to one can impact on people's health, especially unborn children.

I am trying to keep the water and fish free from contamination - almost...! There is a doll in there and it is well known that some toys contain large quantities of a man-made hormone disrupting chemical called phthalates. The article Phthalates: Soft plastic's hidden hazard outlines the types of phthalates commonly used in products and suggest that based on latest research phthalates can have a disturbing effect on human health, such as 'Boys born to expectant mothers exposed to high levels of phthalates showed smaller penis sizes, incompletely descended testicles, and a shorter distance between the anus and base of the penis, compared with boys born to women exposed to low levels of the chemical.' 

Please listen to Shanna Swan's talk as she provides vital information about a chemical that many of us do not take seriously in comparison to lead for example.  

Shanna Swan - Mount Sinai School of Medicine

Published on 11 Apr 2013

(Visit: http://www.uctv.tv/) The reproductive toxicity of phthalates has been known since the 1990's. Shanna Swan, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, has worked for over twenty-five years to understand the threats posed by chemicals to our environment and our health, and, when necessary, to develop new paradigms to assess their risks. Findings warrant concern that low dose prenatal exposure anti-androgenic chemicals may affect human male reproductive health. Series: "Breast Cancer Prevention and Treatment" [4/2013] [Health and Medicine] [Show ID: 25019]

TED-TALK

Mike Biddle: "We can recycle plastic"

Uploaded on 29 Feb 2012

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90 % OF METAL ARE RECOVERED

ONLY 5 - 10 % OF PLASTICS ARE RECOVERED