From the vault, revised (various dates):
Ever since we hairless apes swung down from the trees and began to walk upright, we have disposed of our wastes wherever it was convenient (and healthy!) to do so. As the millennia passed and our populations increased, we had to dispose of ever greater amounts of waste. When we became “civilized” and organized ourselves into large collectives, i.e. towns and cities, we were forced to hire “specialists” to haul the stuff away and dispose of it in places out of sight (and smell!).
Prior to the Industrial Age (which began in the late 18th Century), our wastes were mostly biodegradable. That is to say, they decomposed and enriched the soil. After the advent of factories and manufacturing, humankind produced items not easily disposed of. They were made from clay, metal, glass, cloth, and petroleum derivatives, and they formed the major portion of our wastes. Landfills and bodies of water became the chief means of disposal.
Now in the 21st Century, we hairless apes are in danger of being buried in our wastes. Humans are the only species which has never learned (or desired) to limit its numbers, and so the wastes pile up daily. Many solutions have been brought forward to deal with the problem, but they have been implemented on a piece-meal basis. A more comprehensive plan is needed.
To wit:
•Enact a nation-wide beverage-container deposit of ten cents on all beverage containers (water, milk, beer, wine, soda, energy drinks, etc.) as an incentive not to throw them away. Construct drop-off sites in every community for the benefit of “professional” scavengers. Require manufacturers to take back their containers and re-use them.
•Organize “work brigades” from the hordes of homeless/unemployed persons to pick up trash/garbage in public places (streets, parks, playgrounds, parking lots, etc.). Pay them the Federal minimum wage for their labor (this would be one aspect of a revived Public Works Administration).
•Require the Food and Drug Administration to discontinue its current food-disposal policy (“best by”) so that supermarkets, bakeries, delis, etc. may donate their unused foods to food pantries, schools, and retirement homes.
•Allow the “mining” of landfills and coastal areas in order to recycle, repair, and re-sell as much trash as possible. Provide each “miner” with whatever safety equipment is necessary.
•Ban the manufacture, sale, and distribution of all single-use plastic items (beverage containers, packaging, dinnerware, shopping bags, etc.).
Even worse than litter are the thousands of chemical compounds which enter the environment – the air, the water, and the soil — on a daily basis – and eventually, into the human body. Most of these chemicals are the waste products of manufacturing and mining. Then there is the agricultural run-off. Many chemicals end up in landfills or sludge pools where they become poisonous time bombs.
Government agencies, tasked by law to keep people and the environment safe, are overwhelmed by the magnitude of the task. Only a fraction of the number of chemical compounds in existence has ever been tested for toxicity, and the total number continues to rise. Fines are sometimes levied on the polluters, but most polluters regard the fines as a “cost” of doing business and continue to do “business as usual.” And, of course, a horde of corporate lobbyists is on hand daily to urge state and Federal legislators to ease the “burdens” of regulation.
Meanwhile, the medical bills of persons affected by these chemical compounds increase proportionately. But, since modern “medicine” treats only the symptoms of illnesses, mortality rates increase. It’s a lose-lose situation, and stronger action must be taken.
To wit:
•Require all manufacturers of chemical compounds to submit old and new products to an independent testing facility before marketing (new) or continued selling (old).
•Ban the manufacture, sale, and distribution of any chemical compounds found to be inimical to human and animal life and the environment in general.
•Require all polluters to clean up their toxic dump sites and spills at their own cost.
•Forbid polluters to write off any costs or fines related to clean-ups or illegal dumping against their tax liability.
Actions against a few scoff-laws will go a long way toward mediating the problem.
Just a thought.