Ideal Bite

Quoth the Raven, "How long does trash last in landfills?"

Submitted by tmeronek on Thu, 07/17/2008 - 1:21am.

The Bite:

Evermore. Like something out of a creepy poem, even biodegradable items like food can hang around in garbage dumps for years. Trash is packed so tightly that it doesn't always get the necessary light, oxygen, and/or microorganisms it needs to decompose, so truly, we implore: Reduce, reuse, and recycle when you can. Ca-caw!

The Benefits:

A future that's not all midnight-dreary. Researchers have found (perfectly compostable) 25-year-old corncobs and grapes, and (easily recyclable) 50-year-old newspapers that are still readable in landfills. The less waste we toss, the fewer mummified remains will hang around in dumps.
It's easier than tapping, tapping on your chamber door. You might be surprised what your local waste management facility will recycle and compost.

Personally Speaking:

Luckily for SF Biters, the local recycling department takes a lot of stuff, so our trash cans stay relatively empty in comparison to our compost and recycling bins.

Wanna Try:

Try making your trash can the smallest bin in your house, putting everything allowable into your recycling and compost bins.
Story of Stuff - we've tipped it before, but this 20-minute vid's a good primer on what happens to trash when we chuck it.

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Bang For The Bite

If 10,000 Biters halve their daily landfill input, in a year we'll keep the weight of 1,846,900 copies of the Complete Stories and Poems of Edgar Allen Poe outta landfills.