Walk with Nick, Litter Culture

Trash culture
Originally uploaded by humantweet

In an effort to step outside of my head and get multiple perspectives on walking, I have set walking dates with a few different friends. The first of which, I took with my friend Nick throughout the ten-block radius directly west and north of MCAD. The area is inner city Minneapolis, densely populated, and multicultural. We walked for nearly two hours and were able to notice many things about the built environment and its inhabitants. Primarily: they litter.

Most of the trash was collected against barriers like curbs, fences and walls. Each pile provided a snapshot into the daily culture of the people who live and travel through the neighborhoods. The dirtiest blocks were in private neighborhoods, which was surprising. I would have assumed that most people would want to keep the area in which they live cleanest. We surmised that either they don’t care, or the people traveling through were causing most of the trash. We also noticed that the blocks with the most litter were deserted of pedestrian traffic. So who is littering? Perhaps it is the people driving through in their cars.

As our eyes wandered from the ground towards the buildings around us, we began to notice the individual character of each of the buildings. Nick noted a pair of angel figure reliefs. We both agreed that noticing these little details is definitely something that doesn’t happen often in a car. Typically you are more concentrated on driving the car and trying not hitting other cars or pedestrians. As soon as we began to notice decorative details we also saw disrepair. Many of the buildings in the area were in desperate need of some upkeep. The same could be said for the ground around the buildings, not exactly the yard-of-the-year award quality.

The simple fact is, the other, who lives in these homes can often be students just like Nick and myself. As we continued to walk, we had been going for quite some time; we realized that we no longer noticed we were walking. Companionship while walking is something we both decided we liked. We had become so consumed in our conversation that the action of walking became secondary nature. About the time it was getting dark and cold we decided to head back.

I fully enjoyed walking with my friend Nick to simply experience the environment in which I live and attend school. I was surprised to find so much trash, on the street, in yards, and around buildings. I wonder what value the people living in this area have for their environment. I feel that this walk allowed me to catch up with a friend and feel more connected to the space around me.