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... On Plastics Made From Plants
"Our bioplastic is made from plants that can be grown in 100 days, not oil that takes 100 million years. Even today, it's a good choice."
--Steve Davies, spokesman, NatureWorks, largest U.S. maker
"There are lots of hungry people in the world, and it seems a little odd to be making disposable cups out of bioplastics."
--Hank Green, editor, ecogeek.org, an environmental blog
... On the Socioeconomics of Garbage
"Our research shows 75 percent of landfills and other polluters are in minority and low-income communities."
--Diana Bustamante, executive director, Colonias Development Council of New Mexico
"Our landfill has given the city a new revenue stream in an environmentally friendly way."
--Scott Simons, DTE Energy, which runs the Riverview Land Preserve, a landfill-with-golf-courses 20 miles south of Detroit
Forward Thinking
- Better burning - In the future, "poof" goes our trash: Gasification breaks garbage down into a flammable, synthetic gas, which can power gas turbines and generate electricity.
- Imitation plastic - Last year, the U.S. House of Representatives switched to corn-based water bottles in its dining halls, a high-profile plug for bioplastics (also called PLA, for the polylactic acid they're made from). Fashioned from corn and soybeans, they are biodegradable and made without oil. Wal-Mart, Wild Oats, and Newman's Own Organics now use at least some PLA packaging.
- "Pay as you throw" - Pitching things costs money, and those costs are being passed on to consumers (surprise!). California has deposit fees on car tires, which are notoriously hard to handle in landfills. Seattle's residents are charged for every garbage bin and bag they haul to the curb.
- Circular thinking - Upgradable computers from HP, a Nike sneaker you compost, Patagonia fleece made from used water bottles: Designing products with the end in mind, an idea popularized by the "cradle to cradle" movement, is catching on. Says architect William McDonough, a leading proponent, "Products can be used, recycled, and used again without losing any material quality."
It also recovers more usable energy than the steam turbines of traditional waste-to-energy plants. But startup costs have deterred many prospective customers. IST Energy in Waltham, Massachusetts, is testing a method that eliminates waste on the spot. The compact system fits on a flatbed truck and converts three tons of trash a day into energy, enough to power and heat a 200,000-square-foot office building for 24 hours.
| 500 BC | First dumps are mandated one mile outside Athens, Greece. |
| 1354 | In London, the king orders trash onto dung boats to prevent dumping in Thames. |
| 1739 | Benjamin Franklin petitions to end commercial waste dumping in Philadelphia. |
| 1885 | Americans build their first garbage incinerator, on Governors Island, New York. |
| 1937 | First U.S. compactor truck built, though it's not widely used until the late 1940s. |
| 1973 | Curbside recycling begins in Berkeley, California. |
| 1976 | The Resource Conservation and Recovery Act puts federal government in the waste management business. |
| 1987 | Trash goes tabloid: Six states and three countries refuse to accept Mobro 4000, a Long Island garbage barge, causing brief but widespread concern about possible Northeast landfill shortages. |
| 1997 | U.S. recycling hits 28%, up from 6.4% in 1960. |
| 2001 | New York reopens Fresh Kills Landfill to accept debris from World Trade Center site, then closes dump for good. |
| 2004 | Mayor Michael Bloomberg reinstates full recycling in New York City after saying in 2002, "We're not doing a good job, and until we can, it's just not worth it." |
| 2008 | Compost or else, says San Francisco mayor Gavin Newsom, proposing fines for offenders. |
| 2009 | Beijing's official recycling rate is zero, though private companies have begun new door-to-door efforts. |
| 2009 | As David de Rothschild plans to sail to the Pacific's Eastern Garbage Patch on his water-bottle boat, the United Nations estimates that every square kilometer of ocean has 13,000 pieces of plastic floating in it. |
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