Wasteland Reading List

As many of you may know, this operation of ours got started from reading some books. Now, hold on a second, I know what you're saying: "Aaron, Wes, come on. Why would I sit and read a bunch of books when I can just wait for your awesomely entertaining, funny, informative, thought provoking movie to come out?" First of all, I don't think that "awesomely" is a word, secondly, the movie will not be done for some time, and I imagine that you can read all of these books twice before it comes out. Finally though, all of the information that we have, and will acquire comes originally from the pages of these books. If you have any suggestions, go ahead and leave them in the comments.



Garbage Land by Elizabeth Royte


This is the one that started it all. Wes read this book a few years ago, gave it to me, I read it and we both agreed that there was an interesting movie here. This is the story of a woman named Elizabeth who decided she wants to follow her trash to find out where exactly it goes after she puts it on her curb. What she finds is at times funny, and at other times frightening as she travels all over the east coast following her garbage.

Wasteland Rating: ***** (out of 5)


The Overspent American by Juliet Schor


This book gave us a really interesting perspective on our story. We realized we couldn't really tell the story of garbage in America without first examining where all that garbage comes from. It explains how and why Americans buy so much, but is incredibly well written, well informed and always entertaining. Read in conjunction with Garbage Land a cycle of buying and disposing begins to emerge.

Wasteland Review: ***** (out of 5)


Bronx Ecology by Alan Hershkowitz


Dr. Hershkowitz is a scientist at the National Resources Defense Council (NRDC) and this book documents his attempt to build a fully integrated environmentally safe paper recycling plant in the Bronx in New York City. The book has patches that may not be of interest to someone who is, say, not an expert in water studies, or a chemical engineer. The last half of the book, however, which talks about the plant's ultimate demise is a fascinating read, and gives a great insight as to why being a practical environmentalist is so difficult. Local government, corruption, big business and special interest get in the way of something that could truly provide for the community.

Wasteland Review: *** (out of 5)


Toxic Exports by Jennifer Clapp


I just received this book in the mail from Jennifer this week, so I will have to get back to you on this.

Wasteland Review ***** (out of 5)*


*Review based solely on Jennifer's fantastic interview she gave to Wes and me up in Canada.

Why go to the movies?

We have some more work ahead of us, and there should be another one of these coming by the end of the night. Wes will be going to South America, and I will be going to LA, and the fate of our film will be in the very component hands of Danny Brothers. This will be our last contribution for a while. Please send it to your friends and let us know what you think.

We've Been Busy

Please, please, please send this to your friends/families/girlfriends/boyfriends/ex-girlfriends/ex-boyfriends
/mistresses/enemies.

Oh, and leave some comments and let us know what you think. There will be some more of these coming in the next few weeks.

Heading North

After another several days of shooting in New York (and one cancelled interview) we are heading into the home stretch as we take off for Waterloo, Ontario today. We have out passports, our friendly attitudes, and our lukewarm feelings for hockey packed. Pitures of Wes doing stupid things on the way...

So much to blog, so little time

Days 1 and 2 in the books for the initial part of Wasteland. We have done a spectacular amount of walking considering Wes lives in LA and I am out of shape. It has been good though, and it sure is exciting to be on the case again. Before we leave for Boston to interview Juliette Schor, I wanted to show you some pics, and tell you what we have been up to.



We interviewed Elizabeth Royte in Brooklyn on Monday, and it was a terrific interview. She talked a bit about recycling, garbage, waste disposal, why we throw away so much, and many other topics covered in her fascinating book Garbageland. I highly recommend you read it.



Wes shot some stuff that will come out looking like trash (what else is new?).




Don't forget, our film is also about consumerism, and what better place to start than the ugly reality of Times Square. We shot around the area, took some photos and some video that will fit nicely in the trailer. Also, Wes likes the bright lights. It is the flame to his moth. Ugly moth.



We shot a really excellent time lapse piece in Union Square, we are going to try and have it up very soon. It is far more attractive than this picture, I promise you.







We shot some garbage trucks driving around, and some metal being disposed of. It is going to look wonderful, I promise.

We finished off day 2 with some fantastic time lapse stuff along the promenade in Brooklyn Heights. We haven't seen any of it yet, but we are pretty sure it will look gorgeous.




We are off to Boston today, where there will be more exciting blogging and storytelling. My roommate Steve told me of a pretty good burrito spot, and you know how us California folk feel about Mexican food.

Until then.....

Wasteland The Movie

Welcome friends, to the blog for the new as-yet-shot documentary, Wasteland. I feel this blog will be a chance for us (directors Aaron Rosenbloom and Wes Meilandt) to share our experiences as we go off on our quest to shoot, edit and distribute our film on our own. We will be working with a little bit of equipment, money, resources, gasoline and connections, but a lot of burning desire to tell an important story.

Our film will be about the way the citizens of this country consume and then throw away what they do not want. We will talk to average families, garbage men, political leaders, environmentalists, authors, professors and experts on all topics relevant to our film.

We will also be premiering clips of the footage we shoot here on the blog, and will want your feedback, since this film will ultimately be for you. Hopefully it will be as fun to watch as I am sure it will be to shoot.

Aaron