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EPIB Trail
Volume 12, Issue 1
Let’s Trash Talk BY Sarah Ekenezar
I
t’s time to confront a hard pill to swallow—the land currently used to get rid of our trash is running out of space and it won’t be long until other plots of land are cleared to become new landfills. This isn’t really an issue relevant to most people until a city planner decides that a part of our neighborhood would be ideal for a landfill. How’s that for a visual? Now, growing up, we’ve all likely heard of the three R’s-reduce, reuse, and recycle, but never really thought too much of it once we left the classroom. I was never a litterbug or anything of the sort, but I didn’t care too much about where my trash ended up. With that being said, my perspective changed when a random ad about waste and minimalism popped up on my Youtube feed a few months ago. After clicking on it, I became so interested that I spent the next two hours watching videos about related topics on landfills and more. In one of those videos, the narrator began by emphasizing the sharp drop in air quality around the waste facility and
focused on the mountains of trash in the field. There were huge piles of food scraps mixed with paper, boxes, and mostly plastic products. Occasionally, another dump truck would arrive, adding to the already crowded site. Halfway in, I noticed that some workers weren’t wearing masks and became concerned about the workers’ health--constantly being around those fumes couldn’t be safe long in the long-term. After the video was over, I kept thinking about what I saw. I began wondering how much of the trash was possibly extra food that someone in need could’ve eaten and how many things were thrown away after being used only a few times. Seeing the conditions of landfills prevented me from distancing myself from the reality that I was a part of the waste problem through my own careless behaviors. The fact of the matter here is that many of us are guilty of making spontaneous purchases on things we just need to have. Except, that's a fib we sometimes tell ourselves so we don't feel as bad about making said purchases. Over
