I like how the last lectures were about the issue of trash. I feel this issue directly relates to us then the PCBs in the Hudson River issue did, for instance, because we are the ones generating the trash. We are the ones contributing to the issue. Of course, we have no choice. What would we do with all of our wastes, then? Right now there are the two options: the landfills or the incinerators.
I would like to say thank God for no more incinerators! The 12,000 tons of particulate matter released every year during the 1930s-1970s would have surely given us all cancer by now if it was allowed to continue. It’s interesting though that incinerators are still around in some areas. Well in actuality, Detroit doesn’t call it an incinerator, but what else would it be? They’re burning trash the same way incinerators did decades ago. Detroit is in debt and the “incinerator” is a good way to make some profit for the city, but the city should take more responsibility of its people and think of new ways for waste disposal. It is known that particulate matter can be an immediate danger to people when exposed.
Which is why I found the case study of particulate emissions in NYC so very interesting. They were trying to determine the Fe/Mn ratio, and instead found a ratio of 104- for steel. So everyday I take the train in order to go to class and I am consistently exposed to steel thanks to the train braking, causing friction and releasing steel dust. But honestly this is not going to stop me from taking the train. How else would I go from the very tip of Manhattan to the Upper East Side every morning? I already walk a few train stops in order to get exercise, but to walk the whole ride would be outrageous.
Speaking of the tip of Manhattan, though, I always loved the fact that I live on garbage! I just hope it’s not diapers. And I am still stunned at the fact that almost 15% of refuse composition in homes are made up of diapers. I would like to think that maybe we can decrease that number, but what are we going to make the mothers do? Go back to cloth? We released them from that burden and as mothers they shouldn’t be given more burdens to deal with- raising a child is enough! But diapers are quite difficult to get rid of due to their chemical complexity, and that is the problem with the majority of waste today. Through time, a lot of our products are chemically complex in order to give us instant gratification, and of course that results in a huge issue with waste disposal. No more ash thanks to a switch in fuel means we don’t know how to build out land, but can we try out plastic? I actually like the sound of that, but I just find it difficult to imagine. There was so much ash (80%) leftover to make land out of it, and there isn’t as much plastic nowadays compared to that number (10%). But let’s just say we keep all of the wastes at landfills. The one shown in the video at Florida seemed very close to the city: what effects will that have on it? There must be issues already, especially for those who are working there directly, like the truck drivers. I would assume if it ever reached its peak of 193 feet high, the wastes at the bottom must have dug into the soil and reached water, causing quite an effect on the city and everyone in it. But that’s not going to stop the use of landfills. I can only think of one sure-fire way to get rid of our wastes: send it off into space! If only.
