Green Group discussion

The main book for this thread will be Garbage Land: On the Secret Trail of Trash. I have yet to start it, but I have read some articles about it and if i recall correctly, the book comes to an interesting and perhaps unexpected conclusion. I am a little afraid to begin reading... ;)

to get my courage up, and perhaps yours, i offer this fun tune.

Today is the last day of February and I haven't had a chance to read this book yet so i just extended it through March. i hope others will join me? please??

in the meantime...where does your starbucks cup go?

I'm working on starting it, books have just been piling up in my world lately.

I drink iced Starbucks drinks, and they take the cups and the school district I live in uses them to mix paints.

I have a travel mug for hot drinks and my municipality recycles the plastic from the iced drinks...but after reading Garbage Land I might get different ideas about cups. :)
In that article above I was pretty impressed with how proactive that Starbucks store was.

I totally hear you on books piling up...!!!

great! and if you come across interesting articles or whatever about garbage/consumption/waste management/recylcing...feel free to post them here.

Seattle is a pretty progressive place, but it's good to see that translate into Starbucks' business practices.

I have two travel mugs, because I found that I was having trouble keeping up with washing them (and am unwilling to drink out of them if they are not washed). That was I can have one in the sink and one in my car!

All of a sudden it seems like I have a million books in my to read pile!

I finally started this! and now i'm noticing every single garbage truck in existence. i went away over the weekend and had a seven hour journey there and back...plenty of time to notice a lot of different garbage haulers. man alive i had no idea how extensive the garbage business is. it kind of doesn't make sense to both export and import garbage, but somehow this is common. sheesh.

i guess so far i've picked up on a few different threads in this book...the history of the development of the landfill; trash seepage and wildlife; and the business/economics of waste management.

I finished Garbage Land yesterday. It's definitely worth reading despite the unpleasant topic. Although I felt a little queezy every time I read the words "garbage juice."

I was struck most when Royte suggested that the push for people to recycle, participate in beach cleanups, etc. are ways that companies and manufacturers shift the blame for waste from themselves to individual citizens. The author notes that for every 100 pounds of product, 3,200 pounds of waste are generated. She calls for a change in our economy. A shift from an emphasis on cheap products that break quickly and aren't easily repaired (it's usually cheaper to buy new than repair the old) to an economy where products are made to last and are repaired when necessary. This would not only cut back dramitically on waste but also keep people working—if not in manufacturiung, then in repair work. We once had an economy like that. Who knows? Diminishing oil supplies may force us back into something like it again.

Marne wrote: "I finished Garbage Land yesterday. It's definitely worth reading despite the unpleasant topic. Although I felt a little queezy every time I read the words "garbage juice."

I was struck most when R..."

ha! yes, anytime i read any of her words to describe the seepage that comes from trash...eewwwww. :D

i used to participate in beach cleanups in college and have been wanting to get my nieces and nephews involved in stream clean-ups. I can't wait to get to that part of the book.

i think a lot of things happening in the US right now could lead us in the direction of the dramatic economic shift you've mentioned above, Marne. i think it will also require a social shift, though...since people will have to start valuing things again. you know, in a way that causes them to want their possessions to last.

the refrigerator in my house is from 1965. i don't want it to ever die.

Just because April has begun does not mean that people have to cease reading about Garbage and discussing here...I'm not quite done with the book myself...

i finished the book awhile ago...it was a bit of information overload for me. i can't remember if it dealt at all (in any detail) with hazardous waste, but we're hoping to have that as a theme later this year, anyway. at another thread a few of us were discussing how to dispose of medicines safely, and e-waste also came into the conversation. i just saw this short video and plan to read the interview later today.

I got this one at the library yesterday.

jennbunny wrote: "I got this one at the library yesterday."

Ooo! I was just talking to some friends about it. I'm game to revisit it.

I started this book today. I'm only about 20 pages in.

I am on page 105 and thru the 1st section. Wow that is a lot of garbage. I can see where the mob would want a piece of it. I just can't believe a state would stop recycling because of the cost. I know it can hurt but it is the right thing to do.