Hi Class,
Sorry I had to leave early and miss the rest of our discussion on the waste management sources, here are some of my thoughts:
A Brief History of Household Recycling:
1939: It’s interesting to see how much WWII influenced our current culture and how many policies related to sustainability were created in this era, and might be considered out of date. [find examples]
1970: Sometimes even the slightest, simplest ideas can have large impacts on behavioral patterns, such as this recycling emblem that has likely aided recycling programs greatly.
1971: Bottle deposit laws are great! My only question is why don’t more states adopt them?
1991: Shifting responsibility onto corporations. I think this is a good idea, but I am always cautious to compare American policy to others since we have a very large and diverse country that is difficult to manage. I prefer to compare some individual cities in America to European countries and examine what sort of programs/technologies make sense for different cities in America. I don’t think it’s feasible that all of America adopt this type of recycling program, but it might make sense for it to become city mandated in various places.
1995: Personally, I love the convenience of being able to use single stream recycling. Everything that I know to be recyclable just goes right in. However, for those less educated Americans, I think it promotes this idea that everything is recyclable, so single stream to them just means trash. Single stream also just carries over the task of sorting to the city, which may or may not be an efficient use of taxpayer dollars. Overall, single stream recycling encourages lazy consumers and doesn’t reduce total waste as much as a program like Germany’s does.
2002: I looked it up, and SF as of 2010 was diverting 80% of its waste from landfills, which makes it sound like the program is fairly successful. The Zero Waste program uses a 3 bin system for recyclables and provides economic incentives for residents and businesses to recycle, two characteristics which other cities could learn from. [https://sfenvironment.org/zero-waste-faqs#successful]
2009: Slightly off topic, but last time I was in the Detroit Metro airport I was looking for a recycling bin and couldn’t find one anywhere, it’s the only airport that I’ve ever been in that doesn’t recycle and I found that extremely odd considering the number of water bottles and such purchased on the gate side of security.
2012: Someone recently sent me a ‘Now This’ type video on this very subject and asked why this hasn’t been implemented more widely. I responded with technological delays in filtering out the toxic gases and the lack of policy to aid in the implementation of these types of operations. However, over IAP I attended a seminar where a member of the San Antonio Municipal Waste Department showed us a pilot plant in Texas that was trapping the gasses released by waste and using it for fuel before burning the waste for more fuel. Slowly, I think America will start to adopt this technology. However, one large issue with it is that it encourages consumers to generate more waste, or at least doesn’t dissuade them from doing so, because now they think their waste is good for the environment since it generates fuels ‘cleanly’.
[https://www.facebook.com/AmericaVersusbyattn/videos/1798809543760630/] [https://www.mysanantonio.com/business/article/Waste-Management-aims-to-turn-trash-into-energy-2136421.php]
2013: ‘One Bin for All’ sort of speaks to what I mentioned earlier how different programs will work for different cities in America to varying degrees. Right now, I think recycling initiatives are poor enough in the Midwest/South that anything to get people to recycle more is a step forward in some regard. However, this again brings back the issue of behavioral changes, or lack thereof, promoted by such a program. Now, consumers in Houston have no need to care about their waste at all, since it all goes to the same place.
The History of Recycling in America Is More Complicated Than You May Think
This is a very interesting take on recycling in America that makes me wonder how we can regain some of the sentiment behind recycling during WWII and in the pre-industrial era by increasing sales taxes on goods such as clothing and disposable goods so that Americans are financially incentivized to get creative again with their use of materials. However, I wonder how this might be possible without increasing the financial pressure already present on lower-income households to buy the daily goods that they need. I think some of the behavioral stigmas around second-hand stores and consignment shops should be removed, which is obviously a massive change that ranges from teenagers who want the latest fashions all the way up to business professionals expected to have the sharpest attire. We have begun to view many of our consumer goods as disposable and treat them with a much shorter lifespan than they truly possess and second-hand stores are a great way to extend the lifetimes of products, so long as stigmas can be lifted.
Energy, Environment & Society 