The Problem with Landfills

• Nothing breaks down—not enough air and water for decomposition, a newspaper can last for 20 years!
• Have a tendency to pollute—leachate can end up in groundwater.
• Takes up space.
• Landfills are rapidly filling up.
• What garbage does decompose gives off methane and sulfurous gases, adding to smog and the greenhouse effect.

Problem with Incinerators

• Gets rid of 70% of the waste, but the leftover 30% is often highly toxic ash.
• Emissions contain heavy metals, carbon dioxide, and dioxins, as well as the usual pollutants—smog and acid rain-producing SO₂ and NO₂.

Social Aspects of Waste Disposal

• NIMBY ("Not In MY Backyard") movement.
• Environmental racism (landfills and especially incinerators are often put in economically depressed, very often minority areas).

Natural Resources

• Trees to make paper—Americans cut down 2 million trees/yr., but throws away 42 million newspapers.
• Oil to make plastic.
• Mining and metals—Mining destroys wildlands, creates polluted runoff and soil erosion, destroying streams and entire watersheds.
• Takes substantially less energy and water to recycle materials than to make them from scratch.
• Less energy = Less pollution, less dependence on foreign oil, less likelihood of war.

Helps Environmental Problems in General

• Greenhouse Effect
• Water Pollution
• Soil Erosion
• Acid Rain