MATLAB and Processing software
The removal chain that takes trash from
garbage can to processing and recycling
facilities is more complex than we can
imagine: as globalization increases, waste
from Los Angeles can resurface as
carpeting in Alabama or even clothing in
China. TrashTrack gives us some insight
into the process, revealing the hidden
infrastructures of urban trash removal.
Waste products from households,
businesses, and government offices
in New York, Seattle, and London were
tagged with custom-designed, nontoxic
chips and the signals from the tags were
overlaid in real time onto satellite maps
to demonstrate the objects’ physical
journey. Carlo Ratti, director of
SENSEable City Lab, likens the project
to the tracing of nuclear molecules
through the human body in order
to learn how systems work. To raise
awareness, SENSEable City Lab exhibited
the project results at The Seattle Public
Library and The Architectural League
of New York in 2009, showing the maps
alongside footage of waste-disposal
and recycling facilities by video artist
and photographer Armin Linke.
