I took a trip to a big recycling station in Oslo to see what people throw away, and hopefully talk to them about why. There was quite a long line of cars going into the station, and it took me about 20 minutes to get in. When I drove into the area I pretended to be there for the same reason as everybody else, to throw something away. I wanted to observe before I revealed myself. I brought my camera, which might not have been such a good idea because it made people nervous. I took a few photos down in the containers, not of people as they threw things into them, but only of what was already down there. I heard someone whisper behind me, “hm, why is she taking pictures?”. The situation was a bit uncomfortable. I felt like I was there to expose someone, and that people felt exposed, caught in the act so to say. I could not get my self to ask someone for an interview because I was experiencing such strong discomfort by the situation, and was struggling with the feeling of getting too close to people, like I was disturbing them in a private matter. In addition, I found no opening remark that could be disarming. No matter how I rephrased my opening line, I felt like I was standing there raising my finger at people, accusing them of something and moralizing. There was a stressful atmosphere at the site, people were running to and from their vehicles with “rubbish” to do away with. It seemed to me that they just wanted to be very quickly done with this uncomfortable, boring but necessary task. I can imagine the relief they felt when they were driving out the gate – finally rid of that old junk! I tried to chat with some of the older guys that worked there. They were nice and confirmed that people throw a lot of useful stuff. Although there is a container for reusable things for Fretex to pick up and sell in their stores, much is still thrown in with other materials in the waste containers. Probably because people either do not know that there is a Fretex container, they can not be bothered to be doing that much sorting and therefore throw everything in the same container, or they simply define some of the usable stuff not to be usable. After a while one of the guys in the staff approached me and told me that there were some people wondering what I was doing, since I was taking pictures, it was not allowed to take pictures on the premises. I replied that I was only looking at what people were throwing away, since I was writing my thesis on waste, and I did not think it would be a big deal looking around since the station is a public place. Well, the guy did not agree that it was a public place and told me to clear the matter with a woman at the office. If not, I could risk being “thrown on my head into one of the containers”. Oh dear, I said, and began to walk towards the office. On the way there, I was very unsure about the whole thing and decided that I had to figure out a new strategy before talking to the office people. I sneaked back to my car and drove off.

The discomfort I felt, and the discomfort I interpreted into the people who were there actually says something about how I and probably many others feel about disposing of things. There are in many cases negative emotions tied to the act of disposal. This immoral contribution to our materialistic culture. That is probably why we often postpone the act itself for quite a long time. People store things in attics, basements, cabins, try to sell it or give it away. It is only when none of these options work, that most people drive it to a recycling station or a landfill. I think that this is the last resort for many people. For others it may certainly be the easiest way out, the most effective one if they want to get rid of something as quickly as possible. These people ignore the negative emotions the might have regarding wastefulness, if they have any, and just do what they have to. Whilst driving out the gate relief comes to most people. The stuff can be forgotten about. Out of sight out of mind, isn´t that how it is?

(Above: The Fretex container)

So, I have been processing this experience in my mind since last friday, and decided to try again. This time I am going to clear it with the right people at the office. I have already sent an email making a request for the permission to interview people while they are waiting in their cars to get in to the station. Hopefully they will be more open for an interview in this situation. The reply came quickly from the office, but the email was passed on to the right person and I am still awaiting the response.

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To be continued…