The United States accounts for less than 5% of the global population, but Americans create roughly 12% of global municipal solid waste.
That’s an estimated 4.5 pounds to 7.1 pounds of trash per person per day, 55% of which gets tossed as residential garbage according to 30 years of data from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
The good news is, depending on how you look at it, our trash can be, well, beautiful.
Finding art in the artless is only a side benefit of the annual Gene Capaldi Lens on Litter Photo Contest, sponsored since 1980 by the Pennsylvania Resources Council.
“[We’re a] statewide environmental organization dedicated to the vision of a Pennsylvania where nothing is wasted,” said Linda Dawson, an administrative specialist. “We steward resources to prevent waste and conserve the environment – building awareness, enabling action and supporting systems change.”
In this year’s photo contest, six winners were chosen in adult and student categories including two high school photographers from the Pittsburgh region. The results were announced in the last days of November.
Christianna Wright, 17, a junior at Butler Senior High School, was awarded $250 for the second-place finish of her entry, “Peck out Litter.” The photo shows a bird feeder at her school that was packed solid with trash. Christianna said scenes like that are hard to forget.
“In my photo, a bird was essentially evicted from its home just so litter and trash could be put there instead. The photo contest affects the environment because it helps people to realize the effects and dangers of litter in a creative and impressive way,” she said.
“It is important for people to control where they put their trash because if they don’t use the proper disposal methods such as garage cans, the environment and animals that live in the environment can suffer.”
Brodie Bard, 16, a junior at Pittsburgh Science & Technology Academy, said the contest presented itself just as he was getting into climate activism. He won $100 and placed third among students for “A Water Bottle Wonderland,” an unfortunately familiar scene of discarded water bottles washed onto Pittsburgh’s North Shore waterfront..
“It was a photo contest about litter, bringing attention and light to different dump sites around Pennsylvania,” said Brodie, an amateur photographer. “I first looked through my portfolio to see if I had any [appropriate] photos already.”
While shooting urban fall foliage, he found what he was looking for on the bank of the Ohio River.
“I saw a collection of water bottles and took the photo,” he said. “So, this is our city. I can get attention to the photo, [but] the bigger issue is the problem of littler.”
First prize in the student category went to Jason Joniec of Lancaster County for “Natural Grown Couch,” his portrait of a tipped sofa discarded in a forest.
In the adult category, Jason Bye of Pittsburgh took first place, Cassie Frack of York came in second and Larissa Gula of Carnegie placed third.
The host group, the Pennsylvania Resources Council, was established in 1939 to counter roadside blight along the newly commissioned Pennsylvania Turnpike. Since then, the statewide environmental organization has started or participated in regional and national anti-litter initiatives including the original Litterbug campaign, Keep America Beautiful, Lady Bird Johnson’s Beautification Act and GRIP (Group for Recycling in Pittsburgh).
The world isn’t outgrowing its trashy ways. A report by World Bank predicts that by 2050, worldwide municipal solid waste generation will increase by roughly 70% to 3.4 billion metric tons. Contributing factors include population growth, urbanization, economic growth and consumer shopping habits.
Entries are being sought for the 2024 Lens on Litter Photo Contest. Photos can be submitted from Jan. 1 through Oct. 31, 2024.
John Hayes: jhayes@post-gazette.com.
First Published: December 13, 2023, 10:30 a.m.
Updated: December 13, 2023, 7:36 p.m.