Emma Flynn TRASH CAN UTOPIAS: Transforming the Waste Landscape of Long Island Suburbia

Hicksville, Long Island, NYS.

Building suburbia the old way is no longer working on Long Island. Inherently wasteful and unsustainable, in terms of both space and resource consumption, the current suburban model needs to be readdressed in the face of energy and environmental concerns.

In response to this problem Trash Can Utopias explores waste’s historic role and future potential in the vision and creation of utopias, and how, in the specific case of Long Island suburbia, waste, and waste technologies, can transform the suburbs from a wasteful dystopia to its promised utopia. It explores how the taboo and unpopular issue of garbage can be worked with in a positive way, with the aim of tackling the specific garbage problem in Long Island and the inherent wastefulness of the suburban model. Challenging the invisibility and unsustainability of the current garbage infrastructure, it proposes that waste management should be brought closer to our everyday environments, incorporated and become productive.

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