So, these trips to the dump, I would take every few months. I found so much good stuff there, glistening to my eyes just before being pulverized by a monster bulldozer. It's wheels were bigger than me; I'd stand in awe, handkerchief over my mouth. Once, I pulled a pretty little tutu out of the mound before it got ground into dirt and rot. And, oh, the seagulls.
That landfill is closed now. An underground fire shut it down about seven years ago. My neighbor smelled burning rubber at 3 am and called the fire department. Turns out the entire underbelly layer of the landfill was on fire.
They were using shredded tires as an alternative daily cover (ADC) to suppress smells and exposed trash, a practice that was approved by IDEM. A soap opera drama ensued, with the ultimate result being that the County-operated landfill shut down; all of our trash now gets trucked to a privately-owned landfill in Terre Haute. Meanwhile, the methane gas in Monroe County keeps on emitting, just begging to be combusted and put to good use.
I rather miss the days of having a landfill in-house. There's something appropriate in my mind about keeping our trash close to home so that we have to deal with it. Trucking it 50 miles away makes it kind of easy to forget about it...And at four miles per gallon on the standard model, those up-and-coming hybrid trash trucks are a dream come true.
I'll admit as well that my inner liberal occasionally prefers government services to private industry. Republic Services, a subsidiary of the second-largest waste management company in the world, does a pretty slick job of touting their sustainability. And I'd like to believe it, but I'm suspicious because the more trash we make, the more money they make! They have projected revenues of more than $8 billion this year...The guy below is hoping to make a few bucks today.
Very intriguing idea about keeping our trash close to home - I think that's a very practical way to make us more aware of our impact on the environment. In line with the openness of trash dumping is the openness of trash collection. Yayoi, a friend of mine from Japan, told me that in her apartment complex in Japan (and all the other ones around her) all renters needed to put their bags of trash and recycling outside their doors for pick-up. Nothing like a little peer pressure, but it does get better.. each resident would rotate duties to collect the recycling (including any recyclable goods left inside the trash bags!) Yikes, I know, but it certainly kept all neighbors in check with their recycling duties.
ReplyDeleteAlso, that Landfill Methane Outreach Program you linked in your blog is super interesting! I had no idea how many CO2 and GHG emissions were coming from landfills! Even more encouraging is that we can (and should!!!) reduce pollutants - it's just crazy that we can decrease greenhouse gas emissions from 6,700 passenger vehicles but aren't..
I also like the idea of keeping trash local. Out of sight, out of mind...it's the motto of our day. If you don't see those mountains of trash, it's hard to conceptualize what's going on. There's also something kind of perverse about outsourcing our trash storage. It's us saying, "We're too good for our garbage...but not those people over there! They're not too good for our trash! Let's make them deal with it!" Isn't that why so many landfills are controversial because they're located in minority and/or low-SES neighborhoods? I lived in Chapel Hill, NC, before moving to Bloomington, and before I left, there was an increasingly strident (and urgent) debate over where we were going to put our waste going forward. The old landfill, situated in a high-minority area, was almost full. Our options included expanding the old landfill, build a new one, or send our garbage somewhere else. Needless to say, the residents that lived near the old landfill did not want it expanded, but no one wanted a new one built near them, either.
ReplyDeleteSo if no one wants our trash, maybe we shouldn't create it in the first place.
Alert, alert! I think in my zealousness to "trash" (!) the trash industry, I made an error. I don't think the trash trucks themselves actually drive the 50 miles to and from Terre Haute; if memory serves me correctly, they take all the trash to the transfer station on S.R. 37 near the Dillman Road wastewater treatment plant, and drop it off for bigger trucks to haul to the landfill. I think. And when I have a minute to check it out, I will. This would alter the amount of fuel required to transport the trash.
ReplyDeleteThough I agree with you that keeping our waste right in front of us would encourage us to be more responsible, when it comes to landfills, I worry quite a bit about health. I think about the health aspect every time I see a photo of a kid collecting items others have thrown out. You even mentioned how part of the landfill was said to have arsenic leaking out of it. Perhaps these types of issues wouldn't be as prevalent if it were in the heart of the city, but I know that if a landfill was proposed for my backyard, I would fight like hell to have it moved, especially if I had kids.
ReplyDeleteSpeaking of putting the methane gas to good use, check out the EnergyXChange in Asheville. They are creating arts and crafts in a studio that is fueled by the landfill methane. The gas is used for the pottery kiln, to heat the water, and for in-floor radiant heat. According to an EPA feasibility study, the environmental impact of the landfill reuse project is equivalent to planting 14,000 acres of trees or taking 21,000 cars off the road in North Carolina each year!!!
ReplyDeletewww.romanticasheville.com/energyxchange.htm
I love stuff like this!!!
Our of site, out of mind. The fact that Monroe County residence ship all of their trash to Terre Haute troubles me. Not only are we incurring more costs of actually transporting the goods to another town, we are increasing the amount of GHGs and the carbon footprints of all of our goods.
ReplyDeleteI wonder if we had a major landfill here in Bloomington and the public was forced to see it on a daily basis, if people who then be more inclined to reduce their amount of waste. It seems that people don't equate their decisions with the future, and maybe if they are forced to see the end result of their decision they would starting thinking more about the life cycles of their products.
Amy mentioned a desire for government-run landfills over private sector control. I agree, but assumed it was for liability reasons and costs that they usually just privatize. It turns out cities can still get stuck with cleanup costs even if they don't directly own and operate the landfill (http://www.epa.gov/epawaste/conserve/tools/fca/costs.htm#remediation). And the benefits to owning it themselves means they have more control over keeping away "out-of-area" garbage by (legally) charging higher rates and subsidizing local waste. If munnies own the landfill they avoid laws about flow control through the interstate commerce clause, so they can avoid becoming regional dumping sites for other states' trash.
ReplyDeleteIt's funny that trash is considered a "commodity" while crossing state lines and then turns into a liability as soon as it gets dumped out of the truck.
I remember reading awhile ago about someone who chose to trying living for a year without producing any landfill waste. This seems like an interesting experiment to do to really keep your trash close to home. After some quick searching it looks like a few different people have tried doing this, and I'm sure there's a fair amount to be learned from reading their accounts of the process:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.greengarbageproject.com/
Sustainable Dave
Trash-Free for One Year
Such a good post. I think bringing the issues home will make people step back and do more about it. I know it wouldn't be desirable, but if there were regional landfills in all major areas, I think we would think a bit more about how much we are putting in them to reduce the smell and quantity of waste. I know if I had to cart my trash to the dump instead of having it picked up, I would probably have less in my trash can. I know that in some places, NY for example, it is simply not feasible with their available land. But, is it really necessary for them to send it down to NC like they do? I doubt it.
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