In the absence of sufficient reverse-retail recycling infrastructure, we have become overly dependent on the landfill model of waste disposal. The earth is a finite place. Whether it is one hundred years or one thousand years from now, eventually we will run out of space to dump waste. Meanwhile, we are polluting our air, water, and soil with landfills and incinerators.
Waste management in the U.S. is in a state of anarchy with no effective federal plan in place to maximize recycling and minimize waste. America generates more waste every year, growing from 247 million tons of non-hazardous waste in 1990, to 409 million tons in 2001, according to Biocycle magazine, an industry publication. In order for human life on this planet to continue to flourish, we must quickly integrate recycling into our established commercial and residential lives. Our society has collaborated in an amazingly coordinated way to create the mess which now surrounds us-the time has come for us to collaborate as a society to solve our predicament. |