There should be some sense of urgency to adopt a version of the zero waste policies that have been effectively implemented in San Francisco and Scotland. We, being New York City and the greatest city in the world, should have started are own zero waste policy a long time ago. We should be the model and not have to resort to modeling other cities and countries. There is a parallel here to the space race. We wanted to show our dominance as a nation by becoming supreme in space exploration. It was our duty as one of the world’s superpowers. Well now, it is our duty to set an example of zero waste leading to a more efficient society, rid of the garbage problem. So long, Tullytown!
Life would be so much better without the need for landfills and incinerators. We will no longer have to worry about how to get rid of our trash and the creation of new landfills and incinerators. Debates about where to place these things and who has to suffer for it will become irrelevant. If the Fresh Kills Landfill did not exist, Staten Island would be a much nicer place. Particularly in my early years, I would have enjoyed not having the rotting smell fill the air.
The zero waste policy in San Francisco includes the composting of food waste, mandatory recycling, and laws against items that cannot be recycled. These three features are all actually very realistic. Fertilizer is very essential and many New Yorkers would be very enthusiastic about food composting knowing it will help the growth of organic items. Mandatory recycling is extremely easy to make happen and there is no reason why it should not be happening now. The third item, making laws against items that cannot be recycled sounds initially like it would be difficult to make happen, but after reconsidering, companies are always involving and improving their products, so they could work around these laws.
I am not going to say I am mad as hell about all of these environmental problems and the lack of government help and inability of the government to take rapid action. I am not happy about it either though. I accept is as a way of life, but certain, easy things can be done to improve this like implementing a zero waste policy. Of course money is at the center of this. A lot of money is dependent on the trash we send to Tullytown. Tullytown probably relies on this money, and if their landfill becomes irrelevant, the town may fall apart. Maybe we can use the advertisements created by Jackie and Joe to increase awareness and our need for a zero waste policy. I feel like those advertisements have a chance at being very effective, so why not try it?
The situation in Treece and Picher is very unfortunate. I find almost comedic that with all our advancement in technology nowadays we have a ghost town. These towns were forced to evacuate because of the harmful pollutants, particularly lead in the area. This is a serious matter that should not have been neglected for so long. The EPA should be much quicker responding to serious health hazards like this where lives are at stake. We should from Treece and Picher so we can prevent future mistakes from happening.
