Disposal of Garbage

This land is your land, this land is my land. From California, to New York Island. From the redwood forests, to the Gulf Stream Waters. This land was made for you and me. I love America, and I have no doubt that you do too. Everyone contributes to the beauty and prestige our lovely nation. Yet all of us have, yes, even you, helped to destroy the land that is our home. The simplest example: the pen that you are using to fill out my ballot, when spent, will no doubt be thrown away in the garbage can, or, heaven forbid, littered on the floor. From individual persons, to multi-national corporations, every American has added to the vast amount of refuse and waste piling on our beautiful land. As Henry David Thoreau said, "Thank God men cannot fly, and lay waste the sky as well as the earth."

According to Environmental Protection Agency. The average American produces 100 garbage cans full of garbage every year. Every three months we throw away enough aluminum to rebuild every plane in every airline in America. Each year we throw away the equivalent of 30 million trees in newspapers. This, coupled with the 9,008,211 metric tons of industrial waste factories produce yearly, makes the United States of America the world leader in trash production. And the worst part of it all, everyone is well aware of this. The problem is that we don't think the piece of paper we drop on the floor makes a difference.

Consider the satiric Earth Day project of Lincoln-Central Neighborhood Family Center in Columbus, Indiana. On the day of April 22nd, 2003, over 60 kids participated in collecting neighborhood garbage and pasting it onto a map of the United States to raise community awareness. Yet still, after countless publications by various sources persuading us to Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle, we still produce more garbage than ever. According to the ZerowasteAmerica organization, Municipal garbage production rose from 269,000,000 tons in 1990 to 409,029,000 in 2001, an increase of 140,029,000 tons. Of all this garbage, only 22% is recycled. Meaning that each year, we dump 319,042,620 tons of garbage into landfills all across America. Not only do landfills fill up land, it also causes hazardous consequences for people living in its vicinity.

Even so, municipal garbage is the least of America's refuse worries. Industrial waste, often hazardous and plentiful, are increasing finding their way into the waterways of America. Although this is in violation with the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act of 1976, large corporations tend to bypass the law; sadly, it is usually the rural, poorer parts of America on the receiving end. Who can forget the case of Anderson vs. Pacific Gas & Electric, a case immortalized by the motion picture, "Erin Brockovich" In the case, Pacific Gas & Electric dumped 370 million gallons of cancer-causing chemicals into unlined ponds in Hinkley, California. 4 decades and hundreds of deaths and sicknesses later, the scandal was uncovered. But it was another 22 years after that before the company confessed to its crimes and compensated its victims. You see, when state officials discovered the unusually high levels of Hexavalent Chromium in the wells of the town. PG&E began rapidly buying every piece of property that was contaminated. Soon, the company controlled 75% of the contaminated land, and all would have been lost if Erin Brockovich had not bravely investigated. But this should dishearten us, for while there are many Hinkley's, few of them has an Erin Brockovich.

Far from being just a good movie, the tragedy of Hinkley, California should warn all Americans that industries are often exempt from punishment of violating laws. According to The Race Against Waste Organization, in 2001, the national recovery rate of reported industrial waste was only 25.5%, meaning that the remaining 74.5% of the 9 million tons finds its way to landfills and waterways.

Clearly, it is time for the environmental policy of the United States to change: on both a federal and individual level. The only way to persuade both average Americans and corporations is by laying out stringent guidelines of waste disposal and strictly enforcing those guidelines. Current laws regarding waste disposal are completely obsolete and inadequate. For instance, California requires that each county be divided into separate garbage disposal districts. These districts are then free to levy taxes and impose restriction on their own, without a federal or even a state mandate. Clearly, this opens doorways for corruption. As stated in a congressional record in 1988, I quote from the speaker pro temp of the House of Representatives, Mr. Conyers of Michigan, "A situation now exists where corporations, some of which are at the heart of the American Economy, discharge their regulatory obligations under The Resource Conservation and Recovery Act by entering into direct contractual relationships with firms dominated by organized crime. The percentage of hazardous waste that is disposed of illegally is astounding. The office of Technology Assessment estimates that no more than 10 to 20 percent of all hazardous waste is rendered harmless by incineration or by chemical or biological treatment. The remaining 80 to 90 percent is either land filled -- or disposed of illegally."

Perhaps by now you are thinking: Are we not constantly improving the problem by increasing our recycling? We are, but by far not enough. According to a study done by the city of Houston, 61% of American refuse is dumped in landfills, 15% is incinerated, and only 21% is actually recycled. The report goes on to indicate that if properly managed. A large city can easily recycle up to 35% of its garbage. It is the laziness and irresponsibility of the average American that leads such low figures. America, whilst being the most powerful nation on earth, trails far behind our allies in environmental protection. According to the Sierra Club, Norway recycles 75% of its garbage and the municipal waste production in Japan is 0.12 tons per person per year compared to our 0.96 tons per person per year. The only solution is to impose sanctions and to regulate waste disposal on a federal, rather than district level. Naturally, divisions are still made, but they must be made uniformly, and decisions must come from a single entity amounting to a federal agency.

The catastrophic failure of our current waste disposal policy calls out for the immediate amelioration of federal regulation. The United States of America needs to take one step closer to the international standard. Third graders should no longer look upon their map as a collage of garbage, but as a green paradise, full of promises of the new world. In the words of Aldo Leopold, "We abuse land because we regard it as a commodity belonging to us. When we see land as a community to which we belong, we may begin to use it with love and respect." It is time for all of us to begin giving back to the mother earth that nurtured us, because, after all...this land is your land too.