> They actually seem to be pretty constant in proportion to the space human population occupies, and if this is so, they aren't a bigger problem than human spr

> They actually seem to be pretty constant in proportion to the space human population occupies, and if this is so, they aren't a bigger problem than human spread and encroachment of wilderness. I didn't make any claims landfills grow in space at a faster rate than other human land uses, and like you, I agree that they probably just increase linearly with human spread (maybe even more slowly than linearly). My point is that space on earth is still a finite resource. It doesn't matter how quickly it's getting used up right now, and it may be many generations before we start to hit "peak earth land", but eventually, we'll get there. Plus, there is something to be said about conserving resources (such as usable land) in the same way that we save money for future generations to use: you never know what unforeseen circumstances may come up requiring some "cash in the bank", so to speak. That's why I think landfills are nothing are temporary measures, rather than a sustainable way of dealing with waste. It's not something we can hope to do for a few millennia and be cool.