Living with the Ramifications
The project “Living with the Ramifications” criticizes our relationship with the waste we produce, the way we dispose of it, and the resulting problems. Western quality of life is accompanied by increased consumption, and therefore produces a greater amount of waste, which is expected to grow in the coming years.
Although Israel is a country with Western quality of life, it treats its waste like a third world country: 80% of the solid municipal waste in Israel is buried in landfills, which is the most polluting method, and today the landfills are nearing full capacity. As the landfills are filling up, the waste must be transported increasingly greater distances from the moment it is collected until it is buried, making the conveyance of waste more polluting and expensive. Beyond the environmental pollution and the health risk, landfilling is used as a method to “suppress” the waste problem by allowing us to deny its existence and its environmental effects.
The main question the project raises is how can we embed our ramifications into the urban fabric in a manner promoting active environmental responsibility. To reduce the amount of waste and optimally treat it, the project “Living with the Ramifications” creates incentives for treating solid municipal waste within our sphere of consciousness, as opposed to burying it in landfills, which leaves it in the subconscious and aggravates the problem. My proposal strives to leave us in touch with our ramifications, within the urban fabric. It leaves the waste collection infrastructures present in the public space and invites the public to take part in its recycling and processing. The proximity to the recycling activity will increase both awareness and the knowledge of each resident on the ramifications of their consumption. This will hopefully lead to more waste recycling on the one hand, and reduce the amount of waste, on the other hand. The project proposes an additional layer of planning for the Sdeh Dov quarter in northern Tel Aviv, which is under construction, and focuses on waste processing. The additional planning layer includes a network of waste processing facilities that will be embedded into the public buildings planned in the future neighborhood. Sdeh Dov was planned and is built with pneumatic waste removal technology, in which tubes carry the waste outside the building, similarly to the sewage system. This technology conveys the waste, but does not process it. The project proposes innovative ways to exploit the new technology and integrate waste treatment into the daily lives of the residents in a manner that will arouse environmental awareness and create genuine value.
