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Jacoby Wiege
12/01/2014
Essay Three
Professor Korpi
As an Eagle Scout, I have always thought that taking care of the
environment is a moral thing to do. On the other hand before reading about are
wasteful ways, I didnt really know that somethings where really a problem. The
subject that came up in my class was plastic bags. Witch I would have never
thought were a bad thing until now. After learning about are wasteful ways, my
opinion completely changed about the environment. Currently I recycle better and
try to always bring my reusable bags when going shopping. I know as a tax payer
that it can get annoying at times when are money is put to the wrong things.

One topic that Edward Humes author of Garbology brought up was plastic
bags. Humes talks about Andy Kellers first trip to a landfill, and how much it
changed his prospective. Keller was an average guy that had a landscaping business,
which led to his first-ever trip to the local landfill. (Humes 188 Kindle). When
Killer first arrived he noticed the mountains of garbage but then he saw the
plastic bags, flashes of white blowing around the landfill (Humes 188 Kindle). It is
amazing how long it takes plastic bags to decompose, Lorelei Hanson states in his

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article Plastic Bags Most plastic bags end up in landfills where they can take
thousands of years to decompose. (Hanson) Many States including Oregon have
found a way to help with the plastic bag problem, by banning single use bags. For
example In the United States, a state-mandated ban of plastic bags was passed in
2009 to protect the delicate coastal ecosystem of the North Carolina Outer
Banks. (Hanson) I believe that Humes and Hanson are right, by banning plastic
bags it would help the environment. On the other hand Others saw so many
loopholes to the ban that it seemed next to useless (Humes 238 kindle). As a
community we would have to make sure people follow the ban, so it doesnt become
useless. After reading Garbology it has changed my thoughts on plastic bags, I
never knew it was a problem until now. Another way to go would be waste-to-energy
plants.

A waste-to-energy plant is a place where solid garbage is burned,

converted into steam witch turns turbines, and produces electricity. Humes talks
about how Denmark was one of the first places to introduce, waste-to-energy
plants to their community. As an Eagle Scout I believe that Humes is right when it
comes to a waste-to-energy plant, because it is not just greener it has a double
purpose. Humes states that the trash form five municipalities will be burned to

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make power and heat for 140,000 homes. (Humes 231 Kindle) Not only does a
waste-to-energy plant get rid of are garbage it gives us power and heat to. Humes
talks about the gasses released from a landfill is more than a waste-to-energy
plant produces. Also Russell McKenna talks about the same thing in his article
Waste-to-Energy Technology. McKenna says In general, incineration plants are
environmentally favorable to landfilling, because of the overall lower carbon
dioxide (CO2) emissions, but also because of the avoided methane (CH4)
emissions. (Mckenna) Waste-to-energy plants seem like a great idea and now you
are wondering why most places dont have one? The one thing that stops places
from thinking about a waste-to-energy plant is the price tag. Just like Humes
explains The plants really are expensive- with large-scale facilities costing in the
$600 million range and up (Humes 232 Kindle) If America had enough money to
build lots of these plants we could use the money to fix all of the roads and
buildings that James Fallows talks about in his article How America Can Rise Again.
Fallows states In a nearly $1 trillion stimulus package, it should have been possible
to build all those things, in a contemporary, environmentally aware counterpart to
the interstate-highway plan. But it didnt happen; weve spent the money, incurred
the debt, and done very little to repair what most needs fixing. (Fallows) The only

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problem that Humes has is where the money comes from to build the waste-toenergy plants.

There is over 1,500 tons of garbage per day sent to Francisco landfills. One
person that is happy about that is Niki Ulehla. Ulehla is a garbage artist, which
means she uses the trash to make art. Humes talks about how Niki and the other
six people per year that make astonishing things out of trash. The dump has an
abundant amount of resources, This place was Niki Ulehlas supply house, her craft
store, her inspiration and he muse (Humes 170 Kindle). One thing that I truly liked
is how Caroline Tauxe author of Garbage Art states It can be viewed as a special
form of recycling, (Tauxe). As compared to Humes recycling was embraced as the
waste solution of the future (Humes 173 kindle). Which leads to Humes and Tauxe
to being correct, that it is a form of recycling. This Garbage art is a great thing
the artist are doing, but you have to look at the realistic part of it. Is the six
artists a year making art even effect the main cause? The artist-in-resident
program does help but on such a small scale it doesnt really matter.

America is one of the most wasteful countries in the world. One big idea that
Humes and Fallows both talked about is that as Americans have big plans for the

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future but never fallow through to them. Humes says that there are old missile
defense towers in Los Angeles that just went to waste. We as Americans spent
money for these military towers that were only used for a short period of time. As
Humes states Today the launch silos are covered over by a community college
campus. (Humes 72 kindle) On the other hand we let things that we use every day
go to waste to like Fallows says Todays California freeways are cracked and
crowded and old. (Fallows) If you look at other counties, for example China the
freeways were new and big and smoothlike the new roads being built all across
China. (Fallows) When foreigners visit are county they are amazed that the roads
and bridges look the way they do. Humes and Fallows are comply right about this,
that we need to keep up on are maintenance.

After doing all of this research and reading I can say that my prospective has
completely changed. I have never looked at plastic bags, are roads, and garbage as
being such a problem. But why does all of this matter? Because it is are life, are
community and we need to change are wasteful ways. I know after this I am going
to make sure I recycle correctly and use reusable bags. We just need to have more
information out there, because most Americans do not know there is a problem. It
just needs to become a reality for us and stop portending there is no problem or

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just pushing it off to the side for later. All of these bad things happen like fallows
states The first oil shocks and gas-station lines in peacetime history; the first
presidential resignation ever; assassinations and riots; failing schools; failing
industries; polarized politics; vulgarized culture; polluted air and water; divisive and
inconclusive wars. (Fallows) These problems are all things we can fix as Americans
but we just need to start with the first step, realizing we have a problem.

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Work Cited
Fallows, James. How America Can Rise Again The Atlantic Jan. 2010. Web.
2 Oct.2014.

Humes, Edward. Garbology. New York: Avery, 2012. Print.

Hanson, Lorelei. "Permaculture." Green Culture: An A-to-Z Guide. Ed. Kevin

Wehr and Paul Robbins. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Reference, 2011. 349-352. The
SAGE Reference Series on Green Society: Toward a Sustainable Future. Gale
Virtual Reference Library. Web. 9 Dec. 2014.

McKenna, Russell. "Waste-to-Energy Technology." Green Technology: An Ato-Z Guide. Ed. Dustin Mulvaney and Paul Robbins. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE
Reference, 2011. 439-443. The SAGE Reference Series on Green Society: Toward
a Sustainable Future. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. 9 Dec. 2014.

Tauxe, Caroline. "Garbage Art." Encyclopedia of Consumption and Waste:

The Social Science of Garbage. Ed. Carl A. Zimring and William L. Rathje. Vol. 1.
Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Reference, 2012. 296-299. Gale Virtual Reference
Library. Web. 10 Dec. 2014.