Response #13

This week’s discussion on the waste that we produce might have been the one that has resonated with me the most.  I feel that in the past few months of trying to leave class more in the know than before, this lesson has given me the most perspective on the environmental issues we encounter today.  While in previous lessons we have heard numbers in the tens of thousands of tons, the numbers related to garbage produced by the city and each borough have struck me as the most relevant to my life specifically.  I feel know that I have a better awareness of what exactly is happening around me, or even a better awareness of how I act.  I have always known that plastic bags from supermarkets accumulate and are harmful to the environment if overused, but only since this past Monday have I been conscious of my intake, and rejecting the store’s plastic bags.  The portion of the lecture devoted to Tullytown opened my eyes to the problems that us elitist New Yorkers have in regards to waste.  I have never considered the effects of the waste we produce, as I never see where the garbage goes, past the garbage trucks.  It is unfortunate that our waste is not our problem, because I feel that if we had the waste sites in our neighborhoods, for example on 91^st street, we would be significantly more conscious of our waste.  The sheer vastness of the quantities of waste we produce is not known to the average New Yorker, and I believe that if we were constantly reminded with transfer sites, it is likely that we would be more hesitant to throw away water bottles instead of recycle them, or even stop taking plastic bags from the supermarket.  I do not think that New Yorkers are against the environment, I just believe we need to be reminded that we are apart of the world outside of New York.  As for the citizens of Tullytown, as cynical and harsh as it sounds, it seems that they are actually benefitting from our trash.  In that I mean that there are many people in this country who suffer from being below the poverty line, and I believe that this relationship we have with Tullytown might actually be symbiotic.  Now I do not believe that it is fair to have to live next to a waste site, nor do I think anyone should have to be exposed to such health dangers.  However, there are people in this country who struggle to make ends meet, and while we have the luxury of choosing where we put our waste, others do not have any leftovers to waste.  As awful as it sounds, it seems that there are people in the country who would gladly take the money and bribes from our waste companies just so that they have the resources to keep their homes and feed their families.  Would it not be better to live next to garbage than to not live at all? These are the notions I am wrestling at the moment.