Wasteland: Today's trash is going to be tomorrow's big problem
From coffee cups to cocktail stirrers, quick-fire trash is quickly becoming a big problem. This is Wasteland, a deep dive into what we throw out and how it affects what's next. This episode explores the impact of the massive amounts of garbage we produce and what we are going to do with it all.
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It almost seems insurmountable. And it's more than I ever expected. How about you?
At this point, it pretty much is.
That's why I put it down the trash chute in the hallway and forget about it. Trash and garbage have been a problem since antiquity and I simply don't have the time or energy to worry about a problem I didn't cause and can't do anything about anyway.
Before you buy any product you should consider the packaging. A few years ago I quit buying eggs in the plastic cartons and only buy them if packaged in the cardboard cartons. I don't buy coffee at places that use styrofoam cups and usually don't use a lid. I've been looking unsuccessfully for paper straws. Single use items like cups and bubble packaging should be banned unless they're made from bio-plastics. Look for the number 7 on the recycling symbol. It's not recyclable but it is compostable.
Interesting. Several years ago, my town allowed both types of egg cartons to be recycled. A few years ago, they changed the rules - now they tell us to recycle plastic egg containers and throw the cardboard ones in the trash. We do weird things with metal cans with metal tops & plastic bottles/containers that have plastic tops, too. All tops go in the trash and the cans/bottles/containers go in recycling.
There are methods already being used around the world converting waste to electricity and to fertilizers.
It's been a problem for a couple of decades now. It's now such a huge problem that there are literally no solutions that don't cost trillions of dollars. What we see on land is only part of the problem.
I apologize for the music, it's pretty horrible, just hit mute.
All actions have consequences. The consequences of using a product that does not biodegrade are obvious.
Sometimes, there's a need that justifies misbehavior. In this case, there's no justification at all... and we are continuing blithely on...
I worry for my grandchildren... for this reason and so many others.
Today's trash is going to be tomorrow's big problem
I would have to say that apparently tomorrow has arrived. As a hiker, backpacker and half arsed cyclist, I can assure you that a quick trip down almost any roadside, path or walkway will give you instant insight into what oinkers many folks are.
One of my favorites was on the AT in Maine, approx. a mile in from a trailhead someone had dragged a full garbage bag in. If it had not been so pathetic I may have laughed, the effort that must have been expended dragging that trash in could have been eliminated by finding the nearest dumpster ( usually a MacDonalds).
Humans are the only animals that come to mind that willingly despoil their own environment, alas and alack.
China was stopped taking US trash and that is going to be a huge problem. Malasia has as well.
Used to be that paper was the in thing, before it wasn't. At least paper can degrade over time. Plastics and styrofoam....not so much. But we have saved tree's.
Sometimes, good intensions come back and bite us in the butt. This is one of them times.
As my sainted Mother would say:
The road to hell is paved with good intensions.
I am guessing it is quite a long road.
Moms are great !
We only get one
Yep !
Grandmas are better though.
Lol I'm actually up to 5 moms now
Paper is also recyclable, as is cardboard. In Toronto we used a "blue box" that we filled with paper, put out on the street on collection days for the recycling truck to collect the paper. There was a second box for glass and plastics.
Recycled material and products and collecting and selling go through the same cycles of supply and demand
as any other product affecting an individual community's ability to participate during unfavorable market economies.
Many communities simply have not been able to afford those simple collection methods during economic downturns.
Even when it's the law, some people are too lazy to properly separate materials causing additional expenses at the plantd.
A Few Recycling places in my state have shut down. Cost's are getting prohibitive to keep those places open.
Environmentalists killed off applied research. The Sierra Club became an obstacle to addressing the problem of trash and waste in the 1980s. EPA established insurmountable barriers for recovering, reclaiming, and reusing trash and waste streams. Bill Clinton, Al Gore, and Newt Gingrich devoted themselves to shrinking the size of government and applied environmental research suffered.
Arm chair environmentalists accepted the political solution that if trash isn't seen, it isn't a problem. NIMBY regulations are preventing any attempt to make meaningful progress addressing the problem of trash.
Keep in mind that the ocean is a harsh environment; shipping manufactured good by ocean transport requires packaging to protect from that environment. Packaging becomes trash and that trash was specifically engineered to be stable under harsh environmental conditions. The United States dependence upon imports has created an unintended consequence of persistent trash that remains stable in the harshest of environmental conditions.
The United States had its chance to address this problem 30 years ago and the politicians pissed that chance away to the cheers of arm chair environmentalists. Environmentalists, EPA, and politicians have gotten exactly what they wanted. It was cheap, easy, and politically 'woke'. Stop bitchin' about it, sit back, and applaud the efforts of so many to create this future. Environmentalists have done this; I know because I was there and watched it happen.
Futurama — Big Piece of Garbage
Seems to me that it's time to start exploring new worlds to desecrate.
(From the movie When Worlds Collide)