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Let’s Talk Trash! JAN / FEB 2020
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THE ROTTEN TRUTH ABOUT GARBAGE - continued from page 11
1947 “Our willingness to part with something before it is completely worn out is a phenomenon noticeable in no other society in history.... It is soundly based on our economy of abundance. It must be further nurtured even though it runs contrary to one of the oldest inbred laws of humanity-the law of thrift.” J. Gordon Lippincott, industrial designer. 1950s An improved paper cup for hot beverages is introduced. It is lined with polyethylene instead of wax. 1950s A second hydraulic system to eject garbage is added to garbage trucks. 1950s The growth of convenience foods (frozen, canned, dried, boxed, etc.) increases the amounts and changes the types of packaging thrown away. 1953 The American economy’s “ultimate purpose is to produce more consumer goods.” Chairman of President Eisenhower’s Council of Economic Advisors 1953 Swanson introduces the first successful TV dinner: turkey, mashed potatoes, and peas. 1957 High density polyethylene (HDPE) is developed by Standard Oil of Indiana and Phillips Petroleum (now used for milk containers). 1958 The Bic Crystal Company introduces the throwaway pen. 1959 The American Society of Civil Engineers publishes a standard guide to sanitary landfilling. To guard against rodents and odors, it suggests compacting the refuse and covering it with a layer of soil each day. 1959 Philadelphia closes its reduction plant (a facility for turning organic wastes into fats, grease, and oils), the last one in the country. 1960s Easy open tops (pop tops) for beverage cans are invented. Iron City Beer in Pittsburgh is the first to try the invention and its sales increase immediately. 1960s Bead molded polystyrene cups are introduced. They provide better insulation for hot drinks. 1960s The first disposable razors are sold. 1960s Bread is sold bagged in polyethylene rather than wrapped in waxed paper. 1961 Sam Yorty runs successfully for mayor of Los Angeles on a platform to end the inconvenience of separating refuse. A city ordinance eliminates the sorting of recyclables. 1963 The aluminum can for beverages is developed. 1965 The Solid Waste Disposal Act, the first federal solid waste management law, is enacted. 1968 President Lyndon Johnson commissions the National Survey of Community Solid Waste Practices, which provides the first comprehensive data on solid waste since cities began to record amounts and types of waste in the early 1900s.
1969 Seattle, Washington, institutes a new fee structure for garbage pick up. Residents pay a base rate for one to four cans and an additional fee for each additional bundle or can. 1970 The federal Resource Recovery Act amends the Solid Waste Disposal Act, and requires the federal government to issue waste disposal guidelines. 1970 The federal Clean Air Act enacted. New regulations lead to incineration shut downs. 1970 The first Earth Day. Millions of people rally nationwide on April 22. 1970 United States Environmental Protection Agency is created. 1971 Oregon passes the nation’s first bottle bill. By offering cash for aluminum, glass, and plastic containers, it removes about 7% of its garbage from the waste stream. 1972 According to William Ruckelshaus, head of EPA, solid waste management is a “a fundamental ecological issue. It illustrates, perhaps more clearly than any other environmental problem, that we must change many of our traditional attitudes and habits.” 1972 The federal Clean Water Act is enacted to restore and maintain the chemical, physical, and biological integrity of the nation’s waters. 1975 “That happiness is to be attained through limitless material acquisition is denied by every religion and philosophy known to humankind, but is preached incessantly by every American television set.” Robert Bellah, The Broken Covenant 1976 The Resource Conservation and Recovery Act creates the first significant role for federal government in waste management. It emphasizes recycling and conservation of energy. 1976 The Toxic Substances Control Act is passed. Before this and the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act went into effect, any individual or business could legally dump any kind and amount of hazardous chemicals in landfills. 1977 Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) soda bottles are introduced to replace glass bottles. The plastic was first developed in England in 1941. 1978 The Supreme Court rules that garbage is protected by the Interstate Commerce Clause; therefore, one state cannot ban shipments of waste from another. 1979 EPA issues landfill criteria that prohibit open dumping. 1980 Polypropylene introduced and used for butter and margarine tubs, and for drinking straws.
1984 During the Olympic Games in Los Angeles, athletes, trainers, coaches, and spectators produce 6.5 million pounds of trash in 22 days, more than six pounds per person per day. 1984 Hazardous and Solid Waste Act amendments and reauthorization to the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act require tougher federal regulation of landfills. 1986 Rhode Island enacts the nation’s first statewide mandatory recycling law. 1986 Fresh Kills, in Staten Island, New York, becomes the largest landfill in the world. 1987 The Mobro, a Long Island garbage barge, is turned away by six states and three countries. The garbage (mostly paper) is finally incinerated in Brooklyn and the ash buried in a landfill near Islip. 1987 The Garbage Project at the University of Arizona, Tucson, begins to excavate modern landfills as if they were ancient archaeological sites. The goal is to determine exactly what is inside landfills and how much of it biodegrades. 1988 The EPA estimates that more than 14,000 landfills have closed since 1978, more than 70% of those operating at that time. The landfills were full, unsafe, or the owners declined to adhere to new standards. 1989 EPA issues “An Agenda for Action,” calling for an integrated solid waste management approach to solving solid waste problems, with waste prevention and recycling as its first two priorities. 1990 140 recycling laws enacted in 38 states and the District of Columbia. 1990 “Neither shortening nor lengthening product life can be a general principle. The strategy, rather, is to fine tune the durations of things, now avoiding cheap things that break too soon and clog our trash cans, now expensive objects that last too long and clog our lives.” Kevin Lynch, Wasting Away 1991 EPA issues comprehensive municipal solid waste landfill criteria required by the Hazardous and Solid Waste Amendment. 1991 “Our economy is such that we cannot ‘afford’ to take care of things: labor is expensive, time is expensive, money is expensive, but materials -- the stuff of creation -- are so cheap that we cannot afford to take care of them.” Wendell Berry 1993 Municipal Solid Waste landfill criteria become effective for most landfills in the U.S. 1993 “We’re reminded a hundred times a day to buy things, but we’re not reminded to take care of them, repair them, reuse them, or give them away.” Michael Jacobson, Center for the Study of Commercialism. https://www.astc.org/exhibitions/rotten/timeline.htm
so, what do say? Let’s Make 2020 the decade to clean up!
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