Original version

BBC World Service

BBC World Service Radio

World Service Radio

The Compass v2 Podcast

The Compass

Documentaries

Factual: Life Stories

With ideas too big for a single episode, The Compass presents mini-series about society

Surprising stories from unusual places. With ideas too big for a single episode, The Compass presents mini-series about the environment and politics, culture and society.

BBC World Service Online

BBC World Service Europe and the Middle East

BBC World Service West and Central Africa Schedule

BBC World Service West and Central Africa

BBC World Service Australasia

BBC World Service schedule for American satellite radio and the Caribbean

BBC World Service Americas and the Caribbean

BBC World Service South Asia

BBC World Service East Asia

BBC World Service East and Southern Africa Schedule

BBC World Service East and Southern Africa

BBC World Service News Internet

The Compass: The History of Wastefulness: The History of Wastefulness: Rubbish Through the Ages

Factual

Monte di Coccio-Testaccio - Rome

16/01/2019 GMT

The History of Wastefulness: Rubbish Through the Ages

The History of Wastefulness

BBC World Service - The Compass, The History of Wastefulness, The History of Wastefulness: Rubbish Through the Ages

Three historical landmarks that shaped modern attitudes to waste

Alexandra Spring discovers how three historical landmarks shaped modern attitudes to waste.

Alexandra Spring continues her exploration of how our relationship with rubbish has evolved through time at the foot of Monte Testaccio in Rome - a hill built of 53 million discarded olive oil amphorae, which were thrown away nearly 2000 years ago. She meets the architect Tom Rankin, who shares how this ‘dump’ is indicative of the Roman spirit to waste.

Moving through the decades, the historian Agnes Sandras takes Alexandra back to France in 1883, when Parisian Prefect Eugene Poubelle sparked public outcry by forcing citizens to buy a box in which they would place their waste. They discuss how this early form of a modern day ‘bin’, or ‘poubelle’ in French, shaped how people viewed litter.

Then, sharing her view on how our attitudes to waste have changed throughout the last century, professor of history Eiko Maruko Siniawer explains to Alexandra how a shift in ideology to embrace modern luxuries saw waste spiralling out of control at the end of the World War Two.
 
Producers: Chelsea Dickenson and Ben Cartwright.

(Photo:  A woman holds pieces of ancient amphorae at Monte di Coccio alias Monte Testaccio ( Mountain of Crock), in Rome. Credit: Getty Images)

The Compass: The History of Wastefulness

Factual: Science & Nature: Nature & Environment

How our relationship with rubbish has evolved over time

Alexandra Spring explores how our relationship with rubbish has evolved over time.

Waste. Trash. Rubbish. 

Whatever you call it, there’s no escaping it. 

The world now throws away over two billion tonnes of waste every year. Unless we see drastic change, it’s predicted that by 2100, we’ll be producing three times as much rubbish as we’re doing today. 

Australian journalist Alexandra Spring is fascinated by this history of wastefulness, and how our relationship with rubbish has evolved over time.  

Across three episodes, she’ll discover how our current battle with rubbish has been shaped by our wasteful past and what we can learn from previous ages to inform a better future.

Image: Alexandra Spring looks up at bales of plastic recycling in San Francisco (Credit: Audio Always)

Accessibility links

Programme Index

The Compass

The History of Wastefulness

The History of Wastefulness: Rubbish Through the Ages

Genres

Brand

Series

BBC World Service

About BBC World Service