Discussion Question: Do you believe there’s a way to create an economic system that doesn’t produce trash? What do you suppose it would look like?
Questions to Ponder:
1. Do you ever think about the sanitation workers who pick up your garbage?
2. How are sanitation workers treated in Taipei City? Are they respected?
3. Do you like taking out the garbage?
4. Do you think touching garbage is disgusting?
5. Would you pick up discarded furniture and bring it home, if you liked it?
6. What does ‘disposable’ mean?
7. What’s the difference between a ‘disposable’ product and a ‘keepable’ product?
8. Why have we developed a system that generates so much trash?
9. Why does our economic system rely upon the accelerating production of waste for its own perpetuation?
10. Why is that OK?
Discussion Question: Do you believe there’s a way to create an economic system that doesn’t produce trash? What do you suppose it would look like?
Choose a position:
Position A) There is a way, but we would have to change an enormous amount of things to do it, and it would cost too much. (give examples)
Position B) There is a way, and it requires adjustment, but we wouldn’t have to change our current culture too much to do it. (give examples)
Position C) There is a way, but we have to radically adjust our attitude towards how we use things, how we design things, and what is considered ‘disposable’.
Position D) There’s no way to not have trash. But we can change what we do with the trash.
Position E) _________________________.
Word definitions:
aardvark: 土豚
mongo: There are things people will put out for discard: they’re done with it, they don’t want to see it again. Somebody else looks at that same object and says, “Whoa, wait a minute. That’s pretty nice. I want to keep that.” In New York, that’s called mongo. It’s a noun and a verb: those are mongo. People who take things from the trash to keep are mongoing.
Article: EVERY SINGLE THING YOU SEE IS FUTURE TRASH. EVERYTHING.
