Here is an example of an interesting by-product of the dumping ecosystem – the ‘neighbourly note’. They appear from time to time, usually in the vicinity of heavy dumping sites, those unrelenting death zones which, for whatever reason, attract more than their fair share of lane-way leftovers. Veritable vortices of rubbish, they are.
Anyway. The Note might seek to present itself as ‘friendly’ but it isn’t; its seething core of annoyance and irritation bursts through regardless, barely constrained by politeness.
But who is it addressed to? The dumper? Long gone, skulking off into the night, mission accomplished, mind wiped clean of care and worry. Unless of course, due to some quirk of personality, they are driven to revisit the scene of their dumping, to check on its daily progress. Perhaps they are a passer-by or, heaven forbid, an actual neighbour.
In any case, the rebuke is directed not merely at the guilty one but to all of us who pass this way. This is not a council dump. So true. We do not live in a rubbish heap. We are better than that. Do not even think about depositing anything here – you, yes you, we know what you were planning on doing with that old broken heater. That fan.
The Note is a speed bump, an unwelcome interruption at a funeral service. It disrupts the unspoken urban agreement which says that unwanted things can simply be left outdoors and eventually, miraculously, they will disappear. We don’t need to know the details. The Note forces us to admit the truth of this communal conspiracy.
That’s why nobody likes it. So much better if this stuff just, you know, went away.
The Note states the obvious but misses the point. It’s not that this dump is in the wrong place but rather that we live in a society which produces vast quantities – unending amounts – of stuff that breaks too easily and has nowhere else to go. Lane or dump it makes no difference – the dead thing exists and must be dealt with.
Creating a no-go zone for zombie products is not a cure for the virus of consumption.
Check out more dead printers here.