Sep 07 2006
Gone Tomorrow: The Hidden Life of Garbage
GUEST: Heather Rogers, journalist and film maker, author of “Gone Tomorrow: The Hidden Life of Garbage”
“The United States is the number one producer of garbage: we consume 30% of the planet’s resources and produce 30% of all its wastes. But we are home to just 4% of the global population.” So cites Heather Rogers in her book, “Gone Tomorrow: The Hidden Life of Garbage.” Rogers shares a number of such sobering statistics with us including the 4.5 pounds of garbage that the average American produces each day. That adds up to 1,600 pounds each year per American. Globally garbage is so overwhelming that today the middle of the Pacific Ocean is six times more abundant with plastic waste than zooplankton. Gone Tomorrow offers a political analysis of how the industrial revolution turned once thrifty Americans into indulgent producers of waste, and how social and economic forces have created a great garbage monopoly. The book also discusses the plastic revolution and points out the flaws of recycling.
Heather Rogers is a journalist and filmmaker based in Brooklyn, New York. Her book “Gone Tomorrow” is based on an earlier documentary film by the same name.
One Response to “Gone Tomorrow: The Hidden Life of Garbage”
This was a fascinating story, and I hope to read Heather Rogers’s book in the near future.
I would like to address a few points from the interview:
*Rogers says that corporations are more to blame than individuals for pollution. This may be so, but I think people, including activists, bare a HUGE responsibility for pollution.
Almost everywhere you go, the gutters are filled with cigarette stubs. The site below describes what cigarette stubs do to aquatic life (I hope it’s okay to include links here):
http://www.treehugger.com/files/2005/10/cigarette_butts.php
I’m told that the tabacco in cigarettes can kill some tomato plants as well, but I don’t have a reference.
I’ve even seen a lot of peace activists chuck cigarette stubs into the gutter. I’ve had to sweep up gutters after peace vigils.
Of course, litter is ubiquitous everywhere humans go.Here’s an article about the consequences of it:
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/oceans/la-me-ocean2aug02,0,3130914.story
(Normally I don’t read or respect the LA Times, but an environmentalist who I respect referred me to this story.)
I get so horrified by the amount of discarded trash I see in my daily travels that I now carry a broom and dustpan in my car at all times so I can clean up messes that I encounter.(Once I’ve totally phased out my car, I’ll have to change my proceedure: maybe I’ll carry a whisk broom on my bike.)
*Rogers also states that sorting “trash” is normal for people. However, I’ve noticed that many individuals are bad/lazy at sorting “trash.” I often open up the receptacles on my street and have to resort “trash.” The same was true in the last neighborhood I lived in.
I’m not trying to quarrel with Rogers’s statements. I realize that she had a limited amount of time during the interview to make some key points, and I’m sure her views are fleshed out in her book.
I just want to emphasize the contributions that individuals make to pollution. Each of us can make a difference right now in our daily lives–both by changing our lifestyles and/or cleaning up after others. Whereas, dealing with polluting corporations is an ongoing battle.
Note: I use the term “trash” for a lack of a better word. One person I know says that “trashcans” should become “resource cans.”