We can slow growth of trash mountain
Anyone traveling regularly on Interstate 79 just north of Washington over a number of years must have noticed this: the steady growth of a mountain at Arden.
It’s not volcanic forces causing this bulge in the landscape but rather human activity, in the form of garbage. Over the years, some of the trash that has built the Arden landfill has come from as far away as New York City, but most of it has been produced locally and in the Pittsburgh area.
Obviously, the landfill at Arden cannot keep growing forever; it has its limit, and when it is reached, our trash will need to be hauled elsewhere at greater expense to everyone.
We can, however, extend the life of the landfill by producing less waste, and that’s a lot easier to do than most of us think.
In a recent article appearing in this newspaper, researchers at Yale University reported that government’s guess on the amount of trash going into landfills has been woefully underestimated. Their report, partially funded by the federal Environmental Protection Agency, is based on actual weight measurements at 1,200 landfills. The researchers estimated that the average American contributes five pounds of garbage per day to landfills. For a family of four, that’s 140 pounds per week.
The federal government had estimated that American’s recycle 34.5 percent of their trash, but the Yale report indicates the recycling rate is more like 21.4 percent. It’s certainly discouraging to think that nearly 80 percent of recyclable materials are ending up in landfills. In this area, where most smaller municipalities have no recycling programs at all, that figure could be even higher.
Even in those municipalities with no recycling program, it’s still possible to reduce dramatically the amount of waste going into the can by following these guidelines:
• Take junk mail, newspapers and other paper waste to paper recycling bins.
• Compost vegetable waste.
• Return plastic bags to supermarket recycling bins.
• Take all cardboard, glass, plastic and other recyclable material to the recycling bins at Waste Management’s Arden facility or to other recycling centers.
• Redeem aluminum cans, steel and other metals for cash at scrap yards.
• Donate clothing, appliances and household goods to Washington City Mission for recycling.
What’s left for the landfill will be surprisingly little.