Garbology 101

I learned some scary things about landfills and the state of trash disposal in the United States from this week’s Earth911.com e-newsletter. You probably think your trash is naturally decomposing in a landfill somewhere, right? Wrong! But don’t feel bad that’s what I thought too. It turns out landfills are not built to decompose trash. Trash is separated from the ground by a clay or synthetic layer and is buried with soil everyday to keep it separated from our water and air to minimize contamination. Bottom line, if you’ve got something you think should decompose (coffee grounds, stale bread, yard trimmings, egg shells, vegetable and fruit peels) make compost with it yourself! Here is a good website to learn how. If you don’t want to or don’t have the room to make your own compost (or if you have a dog that would eat your compost) then do an internet search for local community gardens. Chances are they have a compost bin that you could contribute to thereby helping your community grow healthy food locally and diverting a significant portion of your trash from landfills.

The University of Arizona has been offering a “Garbology” class for thirty years. “Over the course of the project’s diggings in 21 landfills across North America, researchers have excavated hundreds of undecomposed hot dogs, corn starch, and lettuce dating back to the 1960s. They also found 2,425 newspapers – still readable – that were essentially used to date the food.” I learned that newspaper takes up about 50% of landfill space in North America. Can you imagine? Paper is one of the easiest things to recycle but it decomposes extremely slowly.

The scary prognosis: “North America is running out of room for garbage.” In my opinion the adage “Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, Compost” can be simplified to “Think!”