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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 spac
by 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 agoI'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 agoShift 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 agoExactly! 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 agoIt would help if they didn't use the word salvaged (i.e. rescued -- like a baby seal.) It's reuse, people.