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We need to get back to paper/cardboard packaging. Trees can be and are farmed. You can use as much paper as you want and never run out of trees.
by robotrout 8y ago
We need to get back to paper/cardboard packaging. Trees can be and are farmed. You can use as much paper as you want and never run out of trees.
- toomuchtodo 8y agoAlso makes it a natural carbon sink (trees->paper packaging->landfills).
- newnewpdro 8y agoIsn't the paper decomposing in the landfill still part of the carbon cycle? Landfills break down, shrink, venting gases back into the atmosphere.
- toomuchtodo 8y agoYes, but at a reduced rate. And the methane at landfills is either burned off or used to generate electricity.
- newnewpdro 8y ago> And the methane at landfills is either burned off or used to generate electricity. There's a retired landfill not far from my childhood home which was covered with grass and the area turned into a park. It had vent pipes dotting the large hill colloquially referred to as "mount trashmore", but nothing else was done to manage the vented gases. Perhaps you meant "may be", rather than "is". Especially if we're talking about landfill practices across the globe.
- toomuchtodo 8y agoAs with everything, it’s nuanced. The EPA regulations requiring methane management are fairly recent, although some waste management orgs have been more progressive than others historically (and there’s money to be made in piping or burning that methane). With that said, it’s entirely possible there are older landfills that are simply exhausting methane into the atmosphere. I expect their numbers to fall over time, as the EPA has a substantial budget (~$100MM) for landfill custodians who would like to remediate their methane disposal. https://www.epa.gov/lmop https://www.epa.gov/lmop
- maxerickson 8y agoAccording to their fact sheet, the majority of active and recently close landfills aren't collecting methane. It also implies that a modest majority of landfills where collection is economically viable are collecting, but there's apparently ~1400 landfills where it isn't gonna happen. https://www.epa.gov/sites/production/files/2016-08/documents/green_power_from_landfill_gas.pdf https://www.epa.gov/sites/production/files/2016-08/documents...
- deleted 8y ago[deleted]
- noja 8y agoNo we do not. We need to do this instead: 1. Reduce 2. Re-use 3. Recycle In that order. Stop making crap that breaks. Stop buying crap we don't need.