Save the Earth

“Common sense is a set of prejudices acquired by age 18”

Feels good Saves energy Saves money Saves trees Saves landfill space Improves Environment

1. Wastes money

2. Adverse affect on the environment

3. Wastes resources

Mobro 4000 –1987 NY garbage going to Louisiana landfill 6 week voyage on east coast 1989 EPA paper :

The Solid Waste Dilemma:An Agenda for Action

J. Winston Porter –EPA assistant administrator“We’re running out of places to dispose our trash”“1/3 of the nations landfills will be full in the next few years”“If we wait, the problem will get worse”

Heavy subsidies hide the true cost Cost to US taxpayers was $8 Billion Cost is 3x more than regular garbage

▪ $50 per ton for mixed garbage

▪ $150 per ton for recycleables

$33 million in NY alone

40% of garbage picked up for recycling ends up in landfills

New paper is wasteful

Recycled paper is eco-friendly

Using new paper contributes to deforestation

Paper is made from trees

Grown and sustainably harvested to make paper

We have 3 times more trees now than in 1920

Due to recycling efforts, large areas of these forests are being sold off to build housing

1. Special truck picks it up2. Recycling center – uses energy, emits pollutants3. Truck to paper mill – could be miles away4. De-ink and bleach - leaves behind a toxic sludge5. Pulp is turned back into paper on machines that use more energy6. Truck brings recycled paper back to printer

Americans make 220 million tons of trash each year

Dirty

Dangerous –methane gas

Running out of landfill space

Not near groundwater

Site cannot be on a fault line

3 feet of impermeable clay

Trash is buried under dirt then converted into park space etc.

Methane is harvested and used for energy Powers 50,000 homes for 30 years

Feels good Saves energy Saves money Saves trees Saves landfill space Improves Environment

“Recycling may be the most wasteful activity in modern America. It is a waste of time and money, a waste of human and natural resources”

-As reported in the New York Times on June 30, 1996