Going for roughly £80 a pop, the approximately one million shopping trolleys found abandoned or go missing from UK shops end up costing British retailers around £35 million annually. This approximated cost is expensive in all terms; being the operating loss for businesses as they replace trolley stocks, to public expenditure for the government as they remove deserted carts. And what’s more, in terms of environmental dismay.
When crossing the Bedminster Bridge Roundabout, lost shopping trolleys can be seen dotted across the banks of the River Avon. The Bristol reach features the second largest tidal wave in the world, reaching up to a 14m (45.9 feet) range. And while this is likely responsible for the sufficient volumes of sewage-related debris dragged in and out of the city daily, examining the surrounding human environment is a clear indicator to where the bulky waste stems from.
The busy road and bus stop situated between the ASDA parking lot and Bristolian River Avon hardly act as a barrier to the trolleys belonging to the multi-billion British chain, from ending up half-submerged and rusted in the riverbank sediments. The vibrant green marking the supermarkets, identify their trolleys.
And while still having to put in 10p to release the ‘safety’ chain to use a shopping cart placed at the supermarket entrances, it has not deterred them from being found on the river banks. Whether deposited because of student mischievousness, or accidental falls, the Bristol region of the River Avon has a significant rubbish.
Throughout the 1950s to 1980s, South Bristol was regarded as the most polluted area in Bristol City, infamous due to mounds of waste found in and alongside the Malago stream, its source just south of the River Avon. The ‘ill-flowing’ stream, as the geographer and storyteller Liz Milner notes, prompted frequent flooding as blocking debris, including washing machines, trolleys, and stolen cars, reduced the time at which its flow capacity was reached. In the late 1960s and early ‘70s, construction founded by the Bristol council took place to relieve pressure of flooding, concrete channels culverting the stream.
While the Malago Stream Resto-oration project, hopefully, marks the low point of Bristol river pollution, it is evident from walking alongside the historically built channel that the elimination of all waste is far from true. Shopping trolleys, make up of the majority of larger items deposited but are not the only form seen. Metal road work signs and fences submerged into the riverbanks, act as evidence of recent construction. Dumped e-scooters hint at the growing use of electric and public modes of transport seen over the last decade. And unidentified structures
and smaller items continue to populate the mudded riverbank vegetation further away from the ASDA and Bedminster Bridge Roundabout.
All these elements indicate the busy life styles and varied activities making up Bristol, it is little indication of any future possibility of more-than-human life. Indeed the rubbish that can be documented questions the council’s, and even government’s, commitment to environmental protection. The lack of action to clean up the riverbanks, also questions what evidence of society will be left in the future. Will future archaeology consist of the near indestructible items we dumped decades before hand? Will our inconsiderate environmental actions become the only evidence marking our society today? What will the inadequate management and deterioration of rubbish leave for generations to come?
This project reflects the tragedy of human disregard for rubbish – the ‘trash-edy’ rather – in a highly localised setting in attempt to continue motivating local communities within Bristol and greater England to act. There is a significant problem on our hands, and if to create a formidable society for future generations, it is essential trash dumping is taken into control instead of carting mounds straight into open spaces.
Going for roughly £80 a pop, the approximately one million shopping trolleys found abandoned or go missing from UK shops end up costing British retailers around £35 million annually. This approximated cost is expensive in all terms; being the operating loss for businesses as they replace trolley stocks, to public expenditure for the government as they remove deserted carts. And what’s more, in terms of environmental dismay.
When crossing the Bedminster Bridge Roundabout, lost shopping trolleys can be seen dotted across the banks of the River Avon. The Bristol reach features the second largest tidal wave in the world, reaching up to a 14m (45.9 feet) range. And while this is likely responsible for the sufficient volumes of sewage-related debris dragged in and out of the city daily, examining the surrounding human environment is a clear indicator to where the bulky waste stems from.
The busy road and bus stop situated between the ASDA parking lot and Bristolian River Avon hardly act as a barrier to the trolleys belonging to the multi-billion British chain, from ending up half-submerged and rusted in the riverbank sediments. The vibrant green marking the supermarkets, identify their trolleys.
And while still having to put in 10p to release the ‘safety’ chain to use a shopping cart placed at the supermarket entrances, it has not deterred them from being found on the river banks. Whether deposited because of student mischievousness, or accidental falls, the Bristol region of the River Avon has a significant rubbish.
Throughout the 1950s to 1980s, South Bristol was regarded as the most polluted area in Bristol City, infamous due to mounds of waste found in and alongside the Malago stream, its source just south of the River Avon. The ‘ill-flowing’ stream, as the geographer and storyteller Liz Milner notes, prompted frequent flooding as blocking debris, including washing machines, trolleys, and stolen cars, reduced the time at which