What Is A Nice Garden Doing in A Dump Like This
In the Moment, Rick Carpenter 2002
This is a garden about garbage.
This is a garden about art made from garbage.
This is a garden about recycling garbage that may save our planet.
When I first heard that there was not only a garden at the dump, but that the city of San Francisco also sponsored an “Artist in Residency” program there, I knew that this was something I had to see. The reaction from other people when I said I planned to visit a ”dump garden” was mixed. Some people said, “Cool” and other people wrinkled their noses, asking, “Will it smell?” I set out on the third Thursday of the month when tours are given of the facility, the artist’s studios, and the sculpture garden to find out for myself. Would I be the only person there? I met with a good sized group that had gathered for the tour.
San Francisco is considered one of America’s greenest cities and Mayor Gavin Newsom and the Board of Supervisors have enacted a plan to cut greenhouse gases in the city to 20% below the 1990 level by 2012. All kinds of people have come together in San Francisco to make practical changes towards sustainability in their personal lives, and in the community. Recycling garbage is certainly a way where an individual or a family can do something “hands on” to make a difference.
After a discussion of ecological concerns and about the work done at the SF Recycling & Disposal, Inc.’s Solid Waste Transfer and Recycling Center (affectionately known to those in the know as “The Dump”), we donned orange vests, protective glasses and hard hats (the explanation for the wearing of the hats was to prevent us from getting seagull poop in our hair. OK. Sounds good to me!). On the way to the garden we headed into the garbage facility itself.
Standing in the garbage shed was my perfect idea of Hell. Odd bits of refuse continuously banged through a chute placed high up the wall adding to the pile, and yes, it stank. In a way, there was a kind perverse humor for me in this experience. I am known in my family as someone who will go to great lengths to avoid unpleasant things, and for the most part, my experience with trash is a tidy affair. We sort discarded things neatly in their color-coded bins and then it is taken away. Where this trash goes is rarely considered; refuse goes “out there”, to a landfill perhaps; a nether place far away. In the presentation that commenced the tour, we discussed some pressing ecological “time bombs”. By becoming aware of the ”Great Pacific Garbage Patch”, I now know that garbage is in everyone’s face.
Eco Bomb, Francisco Perez Cardona 1991
Crossing the Pacific Ocean in 1997 after competing in a trans-Pacific yacht race, Captain Charles Moore discovered “The Great Pacific Garbage Patch”, a floating debris field two times the size of Texas. Formed by circular currents called Gyres, debris from the of the perimeter of the Pacific Ocean (garbage from the US, Japan and other nations) is drawn to the still waters of the center. This monstrous accumulation of trash chokes not only the surface of the Pacific, but hundreds of feet into the ocean’s depth.
Particles Dancing, Linda Raynsford 2000
“I want to say one word to you. Just one word…plastics.” This line from the 1967 film, The Graduate is to me like one of those prophecy twists from the ancient Greeks. Yes, there is a future in plastics because it never goes away: plastic stays around forever, becoming smaller and smaller, and ever more deadly.
Unlike natural debris which eventually degrades, plastic remains a polymer even at the molecular level. In the Great Pacific Garbage Patch photodegraded plastic particulates choke the upper water column. Fish ingest the plastic particulate, birds feed this to their chicks, and the plastic enters the food chain.
There is no consensus on how to clean up the massive Great Pacific Garbage Patch, but hopefully we can prevent it from from expanding. San Francisco has banned plastic bags from large stores such as supermarkets. This translates into 5 million fewer plastic bags every month. Other cities, nations have followed suit, or are considering a ban. In my house we now have a collection of re-usable canvas bags that we take with us every time we go shopping. It is actually quite easy to do, something practical in a small way that when done with others has a big impact.
Deborah Munk who led the tour pointed out this bale of paper collected for recycling. Deborah explained that a ton of paper like the one showed here was the equivalent of 17 to 24 trees.
I thought is was so fitting than an envelope from the Sierra Club was found in this bale. One of the oldest grassroots environmental organizations in the United States, the Sierra Club was founded by the preservationist, John Muir. Looking at the image of this paper bale after my visit, I had to call Deborah Munk again to confirm how many trees a bale like this would preserve. I imagined John Muir with his lanky, upright figure and grizzled beard standing before a grove swaying in the breeze; a grove of about seventeen to twenty-four trees.
Conehead Chairs, Norma Yorba 1995
San Francisco recycles an impressive 70% of its garbage. This can be compared to the city of Dallas, Texas which only recycles 2%. In many places change and awareness of environmental concerns is begun by just one person. In San Francisco in the 1970’s the artist Jo Hansen began to sweep the litter strewn sidewalk outside her house and compiled journals of urban detritus. Her personal act of sweeping one sidewalk grew into a celebrated public art practice and citywide anti-litter campaign. As a vocal SF Arts Commissioner, Hanson suggested to Norcal Waste Systems, Inc. and the City of San Francisco that they develop an artist in residence program at the city dump, offering a studio and stipend for artists to create artwork from the waste stream to raise public awareness.
Deborah Munk explained that the artists in the program can only use items from the dump. Shopping carts are used by the artists to gather the materials that they will need assemble and create works of art. As the artists sift through the trash with their carts in tow, they say they are “going shopping”.
Stanley, Dana Albany 2003
A collection of sculptures created by the artists are displayed in the sculpture garden. Placed on the hill above the dump, the garden incorporates some plants rescued from the trash, and the paths were constructed from salvaged concrete from the old Embarcadero freeway that had been torn down after being damaged in the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake. A show featuring the work of the current artists in residence, David King and Christine Lee is being held this January 23 & 24, 2009.
There are many gardeners that would say that a garden is strictly about plants. I have to admit I am entranced by flowers, striking plant combinations, edible plants, native plants and the like, and I relish and honor the horticultural expertise of the plantsperson. I would argue that gardens have also been about The Idea: the yearnings of the collective unconscious.
The great Mannerist and Baroque gardens were expressions of temporal power; the sublimation of nature manifested as a triumph of civilization. The landscape parks of the 19th century, as well as the “natural” gardens of Robinson and Jekyll can be seen as a reaction to the despoiling of the landscape during the industrial revolution: an expression of the Arcadian ideal. An art garden at a dump speaks to us now: with a planet in peril, each person, each family, every gardener can make a difference to save the Earth we love.
For further information and to visit the garden go to: www.sunsetscavenger.com
Garden tours are held for adults on the third Saturday of each month at 10:00 a.m. The tours are geared to those interested in knowing more about the AIR Program, and for those interested in applying to be one of the artists. Tours also include an overview of the company and the garbage and recycling operations in San Francisco. For safety reasons, the tour is not appropriate for children under 8 years of age. To make a reservation for a Saturday tour, please call Deborah Munk at (415) 330-1415.
Brilliant, Plilip! A garden is a cultivated area of land filled with DREAMS ~ a symbol of unity! Thank you dear friend for this wonderful garden tour and mind adventure.
Comment by joey — 17. January 2009 @ 05:38
Hi Philip - What a great essay! I would be in the “cool” camp in terms of encouraging your visit but also the “yuk” factor of actually seeing (not to mention smelling) the garbage might make me fearful of taking an actual tour. I’d love to go and just see the art! Then again, I imagine the powerful image that you show, experienced in person, of the incredibly disgusting and non-biodegrabable mess would strengthen one’s resolve to do better by the planet. I used to volunteer in a recycling center near Seattle and our city is pretty amazing about making it easy for folks to compost and recycle; now restaurants will be required to not use styrofoam anymore. A proposed plastic bag ban seems to have been shot down, alas. Thanks for spotlighting this important issue within the framework of gardens, art, and your wonderful prose!
Comment by Karen — 17. January 2009 @ 05:57
Joey!
You have no idea how much I appreciate your lovely comment. I am so worried that showing a garden that is more about recycling and not “pretty” would not be something that people would want to see. You understood comletely when you mentioned unity. What this garden at a dump showed me was that one person can make a difference by example and standing up, speaking out. Jo Hansen, the woman mentioned here was followed by others who joined together to create a better world for our children.
What can be better than that?
There is hope, and gardens are the best way to show that.
Philip
Comment by admin — 17. January 2009 @ 06:01
I’m glad i discovered your blog today not only great pictures and writing, but great ideas presently sincerely. The art is amazing too. Keep up the good work, D.
Comment by Daniel Mount — 17. January 2009 @ 06:29
Hi Karen,
Cool and Yuk! For me to face reality, someone who never wants to rock the boat means that there are things happening that are so compelling, that one has to stand up and listen.
You volunteered at a recycling center…you are awesome.
I love your blog, Greenwalks, and in it you show that Seattle is at the cutting edge in respect for the environment.
What I really took from this experience was that one does not have to feel powerless when you hear about climate change, or the mass of garbage in the Pacific. Everyone can do something for the planet. Sometimes it just takes someone like Jo Hanson who swept her sidewalk. I thought of you on your Greenwalks.
So, Karen, here is to a new era, and a better one for our children.
Philip
Comment by admin — 17. January 2009 @ 07:33
Daniel,
I am touched by your comment.
Thank you so much.
Sincerely,
Philip
Comment by admin — 17. January 2009 @ 07:36
What an outstanding article. You had me at the title. The Sierra club envelope, the irony. It’s one of those pictures that says a thousand words. The rusty garden art is fabulous. I love rust. And the idea of installing a garden by the dump with paths laid with the damaged freeway–genius. Excellent subject, excellent writing.
Comment by Grace — 17. January 2009 @ 09:00
Brilliant post Phillip - One thing that saddens me so much is to see the plastic that is washed up on our beach here - the thought of the “The Great Pacific Garbage Patch” is quite frightening.
The recycled garden art is awesome
K
Comment by Karen - An Artists Garden — 17. January 2009 @ 12:42
Hi Philip, this might be the favorite of your wonderful posts, art, gardens and saving our civilization from choking garbage! All the art was fantastic, there is an artist in Asheville, NC who produces amazing sculptures from trash also, large metal pieces from vehicles are a specialty. San Francisco is the leader to follow in its recylcing efforts. The Pacific patch is frightening, there are probably many more like it around the world too. I do hope we can raise awareness enough to at least stop it from growing. Even our tiny rural area is working hard to offer a place for us to bring our recycles, there are always several people at the center unloading car loads of paper, cardboard, cans and plastic. We have to take our glass to the larger city of Knoxville, but do it happily. I love your photos of garden plants with the art, you yourself are quite an artist too!
Frances
Comment by Frances — 17. January 2009 @ 14:21
What a terrific, upbeat post about our waste! Thanks for visiting the dump garden and reporting back to us.
Comment by Susan Tomlinson — 17. January 2009 @ 15:33
Hi Grace!
Thank you for your comment!
I loved discovering your blog, and look forward to reading your posts.
The rust! I am glad you noticed that, and the re-use of the concrete from the damaged freeway. It was interesting for me to discover.Thank you for your kind words.
Philip
Comment by admin — 17. January 2009 @ 21:24
Hi Karen,
Oh, that saddens me hat the beautiful coast of Wales is sullied by plastic.
For whatever reason I had not heard of the garbage patch until my vistit here. I had a visceral lurch when I understood this. It is one thing to hear about a planet in peril, but the magnitude of it all was emotional.
Thanks so much for your comment. Your blogs are such a treat for me to visit.
Philip
Comment by admin — 17. January 2009 @ 21:27
Hi Frances!
What a wonderful comment.
I love hearing about what is being done in other parts in the country. I would love to see the work of the Ashville NC artist. It is so heartening to know people all over are doing something and coming together. That is such a hopeful feeling.
Thank you so much for your kind words. I so much admire the artistry and enchantment of your garden,
Philip
Comment by admin — 17. January 2009 @ 21:39
Hi Susan!
I loved discovering your wonderful blog, The Bicycle Garden!
Thank you so much for your comment!
Philip
Comment by admin — 17. January 2009 @ 21:41
A thought provoking post. Here in the Uk until the credit crunch hit there was nothing else the press liked than to go on about the environment, its seems to have taken abit of a back seat now!! Interestingly at Christmas there were stories on the news about the warehouses full of paper for recycling that were just rotting - the value of the paper had dropped from £20 a ton to virtually nothing so the authorities couldnt sell it. If only has a storage life of 3 weeks before it is contaminated by rats!
Comment by Helen - patientgardener — 17. January 2009 @ 22:01
Wow, what an experience! You do take us on some very interesting garden tours, Phillip! This was fascinating, i have wondered about what happens with all the stuff i throw away…
Comment by Anne — 18. January 2009 @ 01:55
Hi Helen!
What an interesting story!
Thank you for your comment!
Philip
Comment by admin — 18. January 2009 @ 04:38
Anne!
I just love your mounded moss planter you show on your wonderful blog, Gardenwright. That is so attractive and fun!( both the moss planter and blog)
Thank you for your comment!
Philip
Comment by admin — 18. January 2009 @ 04:42
Your city is truly an inspiration for the rest of the world Phillip. That garden is really something, the plants really compliment the art pieces made from tossed objects. Lovely post!
Comment by Racquel — 18. January 2009 @ 17:34
Hi Racquel!
All my best to your sweet cat, Mooch! I hope he feel better soon!
Thank you so much for your comment!
Philip
Comment by admin — 18. January 2009 @ 17:45
Hi again Philip, you asked about the artist in Asheville. Here is the latest post that includes links to the other pieces I had written about him and his studio near my son’s house there.
http://fairegarden.wordpress.com/2008/10/21/beauty-at-casa-brokenbeat/
Comment by Frances — 18. January 2009 @ 18:03
Thanks Frances!
What a beautifu; garden Mr. and Mrs. Brokenbeat have!
I enjoyed finding about Christopher Mello. I would love to see his garden in Costa Rica!
Thanks for sending this on!
Philip
Comment by admin — 18. January 2009 @ 21:31
Wow, Philip! I love the pragmatism laced into the unlikely beauty of this post! We are, indeed, fortunate to be living in Northern CA where there is more consciousness around recycling. I have three city containers,probably like you do. Black for “garbage.”
Blue for paper, plastic, cardboard and metals. Green for garden greens, branches, etc.(including whole Christmas trees!). I made a visit to a local cemetery and discovered that at the edge of the cemetery is where they recycle and degrade the garden wastes! They have three HUGE piles, each in a different state of decomposition. The furthest back is the one people can come pick up with trucks to use in their gardens. Efficient, no?? I took a Deep Ecology class in grad school that required us to visit a Marin water treatment plant, another aspect of this recycling we prefer not to face. But face we must. Thanks for an easy entry. Kathryn xoxo
Comment by Kathry/plantwhateverbringsyoujoy.com — 18. January 2009 @ 21:37
Philip, the combination of your photos, descriptions and personal insights makes your posts a true delight. I’ve been mulling over the question “what is a garden” myself lately, having recently been exposed to some viewpoints that do not see plants as the main attraction, or in some cases, part of the attraction at all. Your post is giving me more food for thought.
Comment by susan (garden-chick) — 19. January 2009 @ 03:36
I haven’t seen a single recycle garden around here. Our waste management does recycle but not for garden use. I get so tired of people who aren’t concerned with anything until it’s in their own backyard. We never had anyone attend our council meetings complaining about environmental needs unless they are using it to justify the opening of a raod through their neighborhood. They don’t care if the road goes through your neighborhood….just not theirs.
Very nice to see this kind of work being done. Thanks for bringing it to light.
Comment by Anna/Flowergardengirl — 19. January 2009 @ 06:35
Kathryn,
Your post: the year of the wreath http://plantwhateverbringsyoujoy.com/?p=1379
Was written at the same time I was photographing this. The circular motif of the art here I was considering when you wrote your post. It was months before I could post, but the feeling I saw in the world you expressed at the time.
So, Wow, Back!
This experience changed me. It is one thing to be told about a planet in peril, but this personal education made it real for me.
The fact that our oceans are choked with garbage and plastic in such a hugh mass was so awful, that I had a physical jolt on learning of it. A visceral, emotional experience. I suppose one could say a Eureka! moment.I have always avoided unpleasant things, but some things are so compelling, that one cannot help but pay attention. I found that small, personal actions matter!
Thank you so much, Kathryn
and for all that you do!
Philip
Comment by admin — 19. January 2009 @ 06:38
Philip,
Everyone needs to take this journey occasionally to see what happens to the stuff that ends up in the waste bins. Thanks for taking us there, and to see an original way to draw our attention to the problem of the waste we produce. I’ve always found dumps to be interesting places, and the main city one, maybe 4 miles from my house, is a massive earthwork that’s different whenever I pay it a visit to drop off something. It’s a space that can’t be appreciated as landscape, really, but more as sculpture–unnecessary sculpture. It’s easy for me to put on my aesthete’s hat and say that I find the bales of paper striking, like shaggy 60s minimalist sculpture. But the fact that they’re tons of waste drags me back to reality and the problems that we all face. Kudos to the city for all their forward-looking programs!
James
Comment by lostlandscape(James) — 19. January 2009 @ 08:24
Hi Susan!
I have been enjoying your blog, Garden Chick!
Thank you for your comment.
I have to admit, i love plants, and am working on a plants post. I do think that there are many kinds of gardens, and it is very interesting to think about and consider.
Thanks, Susan!
Philip
Comment by admin — 19. January 2009 @ 18:49
Hi Anna!
I loved your recent post on FlowerGardenGirl
Have a great day!
Thanks for your comment!
Philip
Comment by admin — 19. January 2009 @ 18:51
Hi James!
I like that you look at the world with “an aesthete’s hat”.
Shaggy sculptures! I like it! I was great to read your comment today!
Thanks so much!
Philip
Comment by admin — 19. January 2009 @ 18:55
As usual Philip, I’m left feeling so satisfied after reading your blog. That you can somehow tie Baroque gardens and the dump in the same paragraph (and make it sound so scholarly i might add) is a testament to your artistry. Thank you for going out on a limb and showing us all something new.
Comment by Jerry Burt — 19. January 2009 @ 21:31
Leave it to Philip to take us through a tour of a “dump garden!” Bravo.
The gardens and the art are beautiful and I like the fact that the sculptures have all been repurposed from the trash heap. As always, you give us “added value” garden history information. Thanks Philip!
Shirley
Comment by Shirley Bovshow "EdenMaker" — 19. January 2009 @ 21:47
Thanks jerry!
Thank you so much for your support!
You made my day!
Philip
Comment by admin — 19. January 2009 @ 23:16
Hi Shirley!
I love pure aesthetic gardens usually, but I have to say this garden really opened my eyes and changed me.
Thank you so much for your lovely comment!
Philip
Comment by admin — 19. January 2009 @ 23:21
Philip,
Very interesting post. Making art out of found objects in the garbage dump and having the results displayed in the garden there certainly brings awareness to the public of so many positive possibilites of what can be done with trash. Thanks for this thought-provoking post.
Jon at Mississippi Garden
Comment by Jon — 20. January 2009 @ 05:19
Hi Jon!
Thanks so much for your comment!
I enjoy your blog.
All the best,
Philip
Comment by admin — 20. January 2009 @ 06:43
Phillip, A good post! The thought of a massive garbage dump floating in our oceans is alarming…We have got to deal with waste in a sensible fashion. We were having a conversation about all the waste left on Everest over the years and that prompted a trip on the internet! Fascinating. Thank you for all the good information and for this great look at my favorite art medium. If I could I would learn to weld just to create pieces like you’ve shown…They resonate with me and would be welcomed at Clay and Limestone. Standing in the dump doesn’t, even with goggles, gloves and mask. Thank you for doing it! gail
Comment by gail — 20. January 2009 @ 21:25
Hi Gail!
I think in Washington DC Vinca major and Vinca minor just left the building!
http://www.clayandlimestone.blogspot.com/
Thanks so much for your comment!
Warm regards,
The Heady gardener
Comment by admin — 20. January 2009 @ 23:16
Well, “pretty” is relative and as you say, Philip, good gardens can be about ideas. And of course, they summon feelings. Great post and fun to see places far from the snow-covered Midwest. We just returned from rural Sweden where my mother-in-law sorts garbage into four containers: Food waste, burnable items, metals and plastics. Another friend in Stockholm, as we accompanied him as he dropped off garbage at a neighborhood center, said that this sorting of garbage is actually voluntary, but everybody does it. It’s all related…
Comment by julie — 21. January 2009 @ 05:54
I’m not sure that I like much of the sculpture, Philip (quite like the chairs)but very much like the idea of the place.
The statistic about the ton of paper gives me the creeps and I’m absolutely horrified by this mass of mess congealed in the ocean. I wonder how on earth this isn’t more widely mentioned.
Esther Montgomery
Comment by Esther Montgomery — 21. January 2009 @ 17:04
Hi Esther!
A boat made from plastic bottles named the Plastiki will sail from the great Pacific Garbage to San Francisco do draw attention to this. Sounds like something you would read about on estherinthegarden.blogspot.com
I am working on a new post, but it is taking forever to finish. I love your recent posts and the ones I missed.
Philip
Comment by admin — 22. January 2009 @ 01:18
Hi Julie!
Thank you so much for your comment!
I love Sweden, but I have only been there in the Summer, and I have not ventured much beyond Stockholm.
Will you show images on your blog?
Best regards,
Philip
Comment by admin — 22. January 2009 @ 01:22
Phillip, I’m sorry I missed this post when it first came out. I thought you did a great job with your post and covered the issues very well. I had no idea there is an area about twice the size of TX in the ocean like you mentioned…this is just horrible news! I wonder, like Esther does, why we don’t hear about this by the mainstream news?? It drives home for me the necessity of taking recycling seriously and becoming aware of the long-term effects of plastic use! Thanks for a super post…I really enjoyed reading it:)
Jan
Comment by Jan(ThanksFor2Day) — 22. January 2009 @ 03:13
Hi Jan!
Thank you so much for your lovely comment!
I only found out about the Pacific Garbage Patch myself when I took this tour. This really impressed upom me on the need for recycling.
I hope to get a new post up soon. This next one is taking some time.
Thank you so much for reading this and your comment!
Philip
Comment by admin — 22. January 2009 @ 18:44
I love, love, love this idea! The only local equivalent I can think of is the Heidelberg Project in Detroit, but that’s without a garden. Thanks for sharing the photos.
Comment by Monica — 31. January 2009 @ 22:39
Hey Phillip! I just discovered your blog today, what an amazing work of art. The pictures and writing are amazing! You really know your stuff when it comes to gardening!
Thanks again…
Comment by chandler arizona landscaping — 19. February 2009 @ 20:54