Human Waste: Polymers, Radioactivity, & Biohazards

I was led to believe there would be no math on this test.

Actually there are nearer to 280,000,000 Americans. Those who, like me, are single and can't be arsed to cook a sit-down meal probably generate more garbage through delivery and carry out food containers. It's all just a part of the Great Landfill Conspiracy. I'd explain, but then my life would be forfeit . . .

If we incinerated it, wouldn't that still cause just as much pollution from the smoke and ashes?

As a child, one of the "markers" for autumn was the smell of burning leaves--now a thing of the past. All of us routinely burned our paper and plastic trash, and left the glass and tin cans for the rag picker. "Edible" garbage went into the compost. Oh well, different world . . .

A conspiracy you say? Perhaps...

Yes Lady, if we incinerate it in the traditional manner, then I agree: we would produce more air "waste" indeed; some solids and hazardous materials generate different compounds when placed under extreme temperatures. Though some environmental engineers, I have read, are producing "DefCon 1" sorts of incineration filters, so that the product, under scientific observation, would pass the test as it were.

I myself am not certain on which method of disposal is preferred; I only know which product or effect is preferred- that is, the result of that method.

As with my vote, I say that some methods are required by necessity, as in recycling, and others not, as with traditional incineration and land-filling. Can you believe that? We dig a hole, line it up with an "industrial" polymer, and place our waste in it. NASA can see Fresh Kills Landfill (Staten Island, NY) from space !

hey, wasn't there a movie out about Va-Poo-Rize? Couldn't we just use that?



Just kidding...the movie was Envy and it was definitly not one of Ben Stiller or Jack Blacks best... but I digress...

I know very well how much crap people throw away. I live in Michigan and we are not only getting our own trash, but Canada's as well! So we are really under a lot of garbage.

I don't know what the solution is. Maybe make it easier for people to recycle and they would. I know that in many places it is very inconvenient.

Not only inconvenient, but extremely expensive. Some day, perhaps soon, our state governments and waste management corporations will come to realize the necessity of efficient and cost-effective recycling.

Who knows...

I'm a recycling fanatic. I pull my housemates' trashed recyclables out of the can and put them in our blue bin. I think packaging is out of control and that reducing it along with recycling more waste would be a good first step.

Another big problem is that we want it alland we want it now. We want avocadoes and fresh tomatoes in the dead of winter. We want tropical fruits that grow only on the other side of the world.... the waste from transporting all that is huge.

That is true, littlek. I agree.

I myself follow suit; I recycle everything the NYC Sanitation Department allows me to recycle. If they allowed me to recycle toilet and tissue paper, I would. Lord knows I have tried...

Absolutely. The ammount of packaging actually required for products would be far less if we adopted a few steps. Some have already been taken (supermarkets with reusable cloth bags available instead of plastic bags). More could, and should, be done.



What in the world is wrong with having seasonal vegetables in season? They taste better and are cheaper. I blame McDonalds. The constancy and predictability of fast food is a bad trend in diet. Menus should vary seasonally and by location, it adds spice and variety to life completely aside from its beneficial environmental qualities.


I also think that paper-wastage is a problem. Society needs to become electronic, imagine all those endless forms that beurocracy seems to require dissappearing.

And privacy be damned. If I can slide my card into a slot and immediately have the constant sections filled in automatically for me on every form I encounter then that would make me happy.

Watchdog has a point. By the way, nice dog in the avatar...

As for vegetables, that could be a problem. I enjoy organic and biodynamic fruits and vegetables, and many such quality farms are in Europe, Canada, and, of course, in the USA. France has good produce as well, as so does the Netherlands. Germany has the beer... :wink:

Whole Foods markets obtain such produce from these farms, and usually allow only a few items from the USA. The potatoes I purchased with my mother the other day were organic potatoes from Canada.