In 2007, artist Paho Mann spent a week at the Phoenix North Transfer Station, where most of the 1 million tons of solid waste that Phoenix produces annually is taken to be sorted. He photographed recyclables as part of the Phoenix Recycling Project, commissioned by the City of Phoenix through the Phoenix Office of Arts and Culture’s Public Art Program. Twenty static prints of the project can be seen at the transfer station, Phoenix City Hall or his website.
Straws by Paho Mann
“I learned a lot, and it solidified for me about thinking more about what we consume and what we do with it. It’s really hard for me to throw stuff away and not recycle it. I consume much less than I did before,” Mann says. “I have a compost bin now; I mean I always recycled, but I’m just more aware now. It’s [recycling] shifted from a passive thing after I consume something to a more active thing I do when I’m shopping.”
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