Week 1: Passed/Past

For the first class, our assignment was to create a timeline related to the theme of the "passed/past." I interpreted the theme by exploring how humans have dealt with waste. I find the concept of waste to be fascinating because waste at one time was always something that was useful in another form or time and waste is something that we generate constantly. And just as the lecture talked about how people deal with people who have passed away, I decided to explore how people deal with waste, which I see as something that is past its usefulness.

I started the timeline with the wheel and the aqueduct to connect the passing of waste products to the very beginning of when people learned to transport goods or liquids from one place to another. Modern sewers was an example of how the transportation of liquids was so useful in helping to improve sanitation by moving waste away from human living spaces. Our modern system of moving trash into a landfill is an example of moving solid waste from our homes to another location to make our living spaces more sanitary. And lastly, recyling takes the idea of simply moving waste from our living spaces to a separate treatment facility further by then turning waste into something that can be used again. In a way, recycling is like giving waste products a second life similar to how the cremated bodies could then be used to create pencils or gemstones.