What We Fail To Notice: A Reflection on Garbage

Global Environmental History. Module 8. Vancouver, 1 April 2012.

Pellow, David N. Garabge Wars: The struggle for enviornmental justice in Chicago. Massachusetts: The MIT Press, 2004.

The World Bank. The World Bank. 2012. Web. 1 April 2012.

With the world’s population at a non-stop rate of growth, garbage and landfills are an aspect that is bound to stay and even increase in magnitude. With such a problem, cities have to realize the effect not only on the environment but the citizens as well.  As mentioned repeatedly, the increase in consumption that results from economic growth has a flip-side, and that is trash. It is only through the collective action to include the developments of more sustainable solutions to landfills that humans can contain the negative externalities. However, there are positive outlooks for the future. Since scarcity is the mother of invention, as our environment becomes more and more deteriorated, developments will eventually surface to combat it. The problem is when.

Below is the last image of the photo essay. Change will happen. The question is when.

Close up of garbage

As mentioned before, economic growth is an impetus for the increasing level of garbage. As mentioned in module 8, the “throw-away society” of today is the process of manufactured goods ending with disposal instead of a cycle of re-use. This is a good example of how economic growth has negatively affected the economy and through that, indirectly us. The capability to realize economies of scale allowed firms to produce at a faster and cheaper rate. This decrease in price urged consumers to purchase new rather than re-use the old. Furthermore, the idea of build in obsolescence reveals the deviant ways of the producers. In order to generate profit, producers predetermine the lifetime of a product, further urging consumers to throw away the old and purchase new. This habit of throwing away goods we consume in order to purchase new ones leads to the built up of full landfills and through that pollution for the environment.

The next image shows how the wrapper as ended in the large garbage bin, ready to be brought to a landfill.

In the bin

It is easy to see how consumption leads to garbage and how garbage leads to the deterioration of the environment. However, another underlying effect is how such production of waste creates environmental injustice. According to David Pellow, garbage is imposed upon vulnerable populations that are forced to live within the proximity of the toxins. Landfills are usually located away from the areas of the affluent and instead placed where individuals on the poverty line reside. Such environmental inequalities impose externalities more to the poor than the rest of society. As Pellow states, these are some of the stakeholders in the game of environmental inequality.  However, from what is observed, economic growth produces more consumption and with that garbage. Those living on the poverty line tend to consume less than the affluent, and yet they are the ones who are most affected by the result.

Below is the next image in the photo essay.

What goes in, WILL eventually come out

Waste is a fact of life, one that is unavoidable if organisms are to live. By viewing the city as a living organism, one can observe that the removal of such waste is as big of a problem as producing it. With population rising at a geometrical rate, effective garbage disposal practices are increasingly becoming desirable (Pellow). One of the key predictors of the future is the past; a look into Chicago’s history with garbage reveals more than one thinks. After the 1830s, Chicago became a “boomtown” that thrived with industrialization. This increased level of economic growth led Chicago’s population to rise as well. With an increased level of people, consumption rose along with resource depletion. Currently, Chicago has more landfills than any other city in the United States (Pellow). Landfills can create substantial health risks for they pollute the air. Furthermore, chromium pollution can result from the landfill contamination in lakes as well. What is the result of such growth? The answer is the decrease of our environmental living standards. If cities can redirect the gains from economic growth into research and development programs for garbage removal, more effective ways of achieving sustainability may be realized. It is only through sustainable development that future generations can meet their needs as well as we can today (Global Environmental History).
The following photo is the consumption process of the product that was held underneath the wrapper.

A wrap in a wrap

According to World Bank, there are almost seven billion people living on earth today, all of which are unique in their own ways. However, every one of those seven billion people have something in common; garbage. This is a ubiquitous aspect that affects not only one’s own life, but the lives of others as well. Although it does not affect others directly, indirect ways are just as harmful. To look at it at a macro level is to view the world through each city, and then see the cities as living things that consume resources (Global Environmental History, 2012). For example, London consumes seven million metric tons of food, 94 million liters of bottled water, and produce 26 million metric tons of garbage every year (Global Environmental History, 2012). Such massive levels of consumption have resulted in the massive production of garbage, and it all starts with a decision; the decision to purchase. Many economists will argue that consumption is a necessity for economic growth, and they are right. However, it is how the city manage the changes that results from economic growth that determines the future success of the city. It’s not to say that current cities are not sustainable, but improvements can always be made. It is only through collective action that real impact can be made towards sustainability and better prospects for the future.

The following photo is the first stage of how a simple wrapper goes from the hands of the producer, to the consumer, and then into the trash bin.

All Wrapped Up.