6 ms·

"he was disturbed by the irony of landfills choked with building materials and yet a lack of affordable housing." Similarly, grocery stores and restaurants thr

"he was disturbed by the irony of landfills choked with building materials and yet a lack of affordable housing." Similarly, grocery stores and restaurants throw tons of food away.

colbyolson 17y ago
I would to see a restaurant do something about that. Much like the man in the article, find thrown goods, dust them off, and put them back into use. Or food.
- nopassrecover 17y ago
  Supermarkets here in Australia used to give their day-old bakery goods etc. (which are heavily discounted at the end of the day) to homeless people etc. Until they were sued for offering food that was unsaleable (and therefore probably not ideal healthiness) to people.
  - pageman 17y ago
    they can still give it away ... as pillows for the homeless :)
lupin_sansei 17y ago
I'll get voted down for this as it's taboo to ask, but what is this obsession with keeping things out of landfills? It's a myth that there's a shortage of space for landfills. According to the guest on Penn and Teller you need something like 30 square miles to store 10 thousand years of trash for the US at the current rate - sounds like a lot but work out how much space there is in the US. And it's also a myth that toxic chemicals leech into groundwater. They don't put landfills near groundwater sources, and they put many feet of clay down to stop things leaking through.
- jedc 17y ago
  I'm personally not obsessed with keeping things out of landfills, but it definitely appeals to my sense of efficiency. Sure, you can throw out everything you personally don't need, but isn't it more efficient to recycle? Why waste anything, whether that's materials, time, or effort?
  - RiderOfGiraffes 17y ago
    Shift of viewpoint, what we currently think of "landfill" has the potential to be the "mine" of the future. Valuable minerals and materials will be extracted from rotted down landfill, "refurbished" or refined, then re-used as raw materials. Effectively recycling, but having gone through an extra phase. It will happen when current sources of raw materials are less economical than raiding the landfill.
    - lupin_sansei 17y ago
      Exactly! It's storing up plastic (which you can get petroleum from) and metals etc if/for when it's too valuable to leave sitting there. If you're interested Mike Munger an Economist talks about these ideas here: http://www.econtalk.org/archives/2007/07/munger_on_recyc.html http://www.econtalk.org/archives/2007/07/munger_on_recyc.htm...
  - jeremyw 17y ago
    It would help if they didn't use the word salvaged (i.e. rescued -- like a baby seal.) It's reuse, people.

"he was disturbed by the irony of landfills choked with building materials and yet a lack of affordable housing." Similarly, grocery stores and restaurants throw tons of food away.

colbyolson 17y ago

I would to see a restaurant do something about that. Much like the man in the article, find thrown goods, dust them off, and put them back into use. Or food.

nopassrecover 17y ago
Supermarkets here in Australia used to give their day-old bakery goods etc. (which are heavily discounted at the end of the day) to homeless people etc. Until they were sued for offering food that was unsaleable (and therefore probably not ideal healthiness) to people.
- pageman 17y ago
  they can still give it away ... as pillows for the homeless :)

lupin_sansei 17y ago

I'll get voted down for this as it's taboo to ask, but what is this obsession with keeping things out of landfills? It's a myth that there's a shortage of space for landfills. According to the guest on Penn and Teller you need something like 30 square miles to store 10 thousand years of trash for the US at the current rate - sounds like a lot but work out how much space there is in the US. And it's also a myth that toxic chemicals leech into groundwater. They don't put landfills near groundwater sources, and they put many feet of clay down to stop things leaking through.

jedc 17y ago
I'm personally not obsessed with keeping things out of landfills, but it definitely appeals to my sense of efficiency. Sure, you can throw out everything you personally don't need, but isn't it more efficient to recycle? Why waste anything, whether that's materials, time, or effort?
- RiderOfGiraffes 17y ago
  Shift of viewpoint, what we currently think of "landfill" has the potential to be the "mine" of the future. Valuable minerals and materials will be extracted from rotted down landfill, "refurbished" or refined, then re-used as raw materials. Effectively recycling, but having gone through an extra phase. It will happen when current sources of raw materials are less economical than raiding the landfill.
  - lupin_sansei 17y ago
    Exactly! It's storing up plastic (which you can get petroleum from) and metals etc if/for when it's too valuable to leave sitting there. If you're interested Mike Munger an Economist talks about these ideas here: http://www.econtalk.org/archives/2007/07/munger_on_recyc.html http://www.econtalk.org/archives/2007/07/munger_on_recyc.htm...
- jeremyw 17y ago
  It would help if they didn't use the word salvaged (i.e. rescued -- like a baby seal.) It's reuse, people.