Posted by Snow in Rubbish, The Archeology of Garbage covers everything from soft drink can pull-tab typology to incinerator gas flyash. The depth and saturation of knowledge makes the material worth mastering. Are we really ruining our water tables for landfills teeming with disposable diapers and construction waste?
The unsettling nature of some of the information will take some time longer to cope with. This book preaches reduction at the source. But multiple sources and changing consumer patterns make this difficult.
This book prompted a curious twinge. A few years ago a relative sent me some gifts in a large box from another country. The shipment was held up due to a dangerous chemicals inclusion. She got a nasty letter from the government, and be discovered nail polish had been the culprit. This book claims a quarter million bottles of nail polish are thrown away annually in Tucson alone.
How did the trash problem get so bad? Convenience versus labor availability in food preparation, plentiful supply versus scarce supply, and class perceptions regarding consumption and luxury. but the section about McDonadls is serious food for thought. Try reading it and cruising through the Golden Arches for a guiltless burger fix evermnore.
The cause for recycling can be easily understood once you start reading about United States waste streams in pounds per day per person. This book yields curious nuggets of green recycling wisdom. The more you eat the same thing every day, the more waste diminishes. That makes sense but it is a cross cultural sell to a culture replete with cuisinary variety and ail retdining as a sport.
Promoting biodegradeability is one thing, but assuming this process will liquify all waste to mush is a fantasy. But the “burger lust” for fast food has compromised the landfills to a degree that cannot be justified. Exchanging paper wrappers for clamshell foam boxes, the landfill gets topped up no matter what. Food safety is a concern, but overflowing landfills are how much safer?
The history of scavenging and the pop culture impression of the recycling and trash handling through art and profession is eye opening. The part of the culture that is fairly Dickensian occurs in the Back Bay area of Boston, with illustrations by Winslow Homer.
The safety issues of landfills are the kind modern culture leaves behind the white picket fence. Leaching, acids, toxic materials, unrecycled materials, and unlined landfill problems become much worse when surrounding land quality erodes.
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