Is littering good to get rid of trash?

[s30lee]

This is just a thought, with the thought that trash going to the landfill taking longer to decompose because of poor access to oxygen, does that mean the litter that sits out in streets and elsewhere degrades more quickly? I know there are issues of this flying off towards sewage drains, and into oceans etc, but is this something worth somehow taking advantage of?

Another thought, I would imagine heat also can help decompose the trash more quickly... Is it worth having a designated area of a desert to let trash decompose? I know again there will be issues of what this trash will do to the local ecosystem, but given there's no "good' place to put trash, is this a worthwhile thought?

By the way, no I'm not leaving trash out on purpose. I live next to a major street here in LA, and whatever blows over towards my apartment complex, I pick up and toss to help keep the area cleaner.

[SgtMaj]

Since garbage in landfills can fuel power plants, I think our landfills will be a vital (albeit small) part of our future energy source mosaic.

[SoCalSolar]

I agree with SgtMaj - landfills are great producers of methane - potent natural gas that is about 22 times worse than CO2 as a GHG. It is great at burning - and is often used to power generators to make significant electricity... one of the by-products is CO2, but is a way better situation than just releasing the methane.

Of course, not all landfills utilize this process... not nearly all at all. The trend is growing and better management of our network of landfills, livestock manuer, and food processing waste has huge potential as a vast source of methane and other products - currently being wasted.


...and I really hate litter It is bad for your community and the oceans. ...although UV rays do wonders to many plastic products

[eco-vert]

does that mean the litter that sits out in streets and elsewhere degrades more quickly?

It wouldn't degrade quickly enough especially when you consider how much plastic based trash would be floating about which can take 10's to 100's of years to decompose, you'd end up with cities filled with rubbish.

The issues in Naples spring to mind although it was more about rubbish not being collected it had the same effect you are proposing.


(for larger http://www.flickr.com/photos/heimatiater/271726614/)

[greenteadrinker]

In coastal area's especially, much of the street litter gets washed into viaducts or drainage systems and ends up in the oceans killing sea birds and numerous other animals. It can be a driving hazard, an
eye sore, and depending on the trash in question; a health hazard.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/22/magaz ... ics-t.html
http://oceana.democracyinaction.org/o/2 ... 94&tag=ppc

[David Balch]

I burn or compost everything I can
Then we have recylcing that takes more
We put out trash - 1 barrel - every other week, compared to neighbors who put out 2 barrels every week

[still learning]

S30l: Interesting alternative thought.

Your post title, for some reason, brought to mind a recommendation of Edward Abbey promoting roadside litter, throwing beercans out the window, it helps keep tourists away. He wasn't serious (I don't think), but he was kind of conflicted between preserving undeveloped and unchanged, a favorite landscape, the Utah canyonlands area, and sharing his fascination of the area through his writings. His nonfiction was interesting enough, but I'd think The Monkey Wrench Gang would still read well, starts with the protagonists sawing down a billboard.

As far as promoting rapid decomposition of biodegradables in landfills, seems you'd want the right amounts of moisture and oxygen at the right temperature to promote fungal and aerobic bacterial growth (metabolising organics to CO2 and water mostly). Think composting ( this forum has other much more knowledgable people on this subject than I am). When oxygen is short, you tend to get fermentation and methane production. Just throwing things on the ground usually doesn't result in the right air/moisture/temperature for rapid decomposition.

Another alternative thought: Trash in landfills is partly a form of sequestered carbon. As it decomposes, it becomes partly carbon dioxide or methane. Incidentally, when people mention that methane is a more potent greenhouse gas than CO2, it should also be realized that the atmospheric lifetime of methane is fairly limited, photooxidation eventually turning it to CO2 and water. DB

[Marshal-Green]

On a side note: littering could be good to make people reduce their trash. If they get tired of seeing mounds of it perhaps they will think twice about buying disposable products

[helpfulgardener]

Decomposition is usually an aerobic process, but some of the selected and bred microbes like EM (Effective Microbes) are facultative anaerobes and will do ok in air but really get busy in anaerobic conditions. These things will break down ANYTHING from old paint, plastics, the whole nine yards. And they are perfectly at home and harmless to the environment, as aerobes will dominate them in the presence of air. So we can use natural decomposition as a waste management tool.

That said, Sarge is correct. I think the best use of trash we do produce will be energy production. But I hope that the inputs for that process begin to shrink as cradle to cradle production and foodwaste composting become more prevalent. I hear it's already against the law to throw out food scraps in Toronto; may we become as enlightened as our northern neighbors sooner than later...

HG

[s30lee]

Thanks for all the replies... Of course, even though we're in our little apt here, we compost as much as we can, we recycle, reduce and reuse as much as we can as well. It was just that living off of a major street here in LA, I see newspapers and other things that are partially run over by cars, blown about by the wind, and maybe some extra exposure to sun/oxygen/moisture etc... and these things are worn pretty well down.

Maybe if they are able to eventually selectively pick things out, that can't be used for anything useful, including landfill methane, and expose these to help decompose things... getting a landfill with an emphasis on surface area may eventually become an idea...

Greenteadrinker, I agree. I live probably about 12 miles away from Santa Monica. I'm always very conscious about the trash that's sitting near sewage drains. I do my best to clean as much up as I can. I've ridden my bike along the San Gabriel "River" (man made aquaduct) a lot, and have seen all the trash being taken straight out to the ocean too much to just let it float down the drain.

Another idea... To somehow compress trash, and make things that need to wear down anyway... ie shoe soles, bike tires, etc... I know again we have to be careful at what types of toxic substances would be in here, but just another maybe... I'm sure there are probably things like this in place already... but worth maybe elaborating upon...

[Solidus]

i would think not because it will usually end up in the oceans.

[frans]

Landfills are superfluous. Almost everything in our trash can be composted, burned for electricity production, re-used or recycled.

[Tripholiada]

The only time I find it even remotely acceptable is if it is bio-material, and by that I mean food, leaves, ect.

In fact I'm guilty of throwing my apple core into the bushes instead of the bin next to it...

[kemptonp]

I absolutely think that it is a great idea. I have an area of my back yard where I put all manner of things that can easily break down (cardboard, paper, veggies, etc). I do have compost bins but I also just have a good old fashioned garbage pile like in days of yore. Metal rusts, paper disintegrates. By doing this, I now have about one grocery bag full that I throw to the garbage a week. The rest I recycle or reuse.

[tigerlily78]

We had a Naturalist come speak to our cub scouting group last night... very cool. He said something that relates to this topic.

The number one cause of injury for birds of prey is being hit by a vehicle... and the birds are much more likely to be hit when people have thrown food scraps out of the car, which attracts rats, mice and other small rodents near the road.

Once they have zeroed in on a meal, the birds pay no attention to traffic and other diversions. They have a sort of "tunnel vision" caused by their instinct to lock on and not look away from their prey.

So, throwing your apple core in the woods is probably okay, but leaving food debris near roads puts animals at higher risk for being hit by a car.