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Katrina: The Debris // The Debris

After being picked up from the curb, 'Katrina refrigerators' were hauled to landfills, stripped of rotted food and chemicals, and the metal and plastic were recycled.
Alice Welch
/
USDA
After being picked up from the curb, 'Katrina refrigerators' were hauled to landfills, stripped of rotted food and chemicals, and the metal and plastic were recycled.

This week on Katrina: The Debris, we're exploring the actual debris — the stuff left behind when the winds died down and the floodwaters receded.

Katrina changed our relationship with that "stuff" — the tangible things that make up our modern lives. Some things became much more important, while so much else became just trash to be left on the curb for pickup.

Producer Kate Richardson visits Habitat for Humanity'sReStore, where castoffs are becoming new homes and furnishings for those who have returned to the city.

Jason Saul talks with Katheryn Krotzer Laborde about her experiences documenting the tens of thousands of Katrina refrigerators transformed into canvases by returning homeowners, and what happened to the appliances once they left the curb.

And Eve Troeh catches up with a couple who saw a business and civic opportunity in all those vacant, overgrown lots.

Jason Saul served as WWNO's Director of Digital Services. In 2017 he took a position at BirdNote, in Seattle.

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