A Short History of Waste
circa 1915
People have been making garbage since the beginning of history.
In our early history as hunter / gathers, waste wasn’t much of a problem because garbage was organic (meaning it readily decomposed in nature), minimal, and dispersed because people were always on the move. Managing waste became an issue as an agrarian society emerged, which is evidenced by the first intentional landfill, developed around 500 BC in Greece. Waste as an issue then rapidly accelerated with industrialization, massive population growth, and the ever-increasing use of inorganic materials such as plastics in daily life. Our recent experience in the US bears this out.
In the years following the end of World War II in 1945, several changes in American society triggered an increase in the production of garbage. The population reached an all time high, so more people than ever were making garbage. The economy was booming so the average American had more money to buy more products. Television had become the rage. Popular TV programs were paid for by advertisers whose commercials encouraged viewers to buy, buy, buy. From the farm based economy of the nation’s early history in which many people provided their own food, clothing and housewares, 20th century America developed into a consumer economy. It was based on the buying and selling of goods and services that seemed to be endless.
circa 2006
By the 1960s and 70s, lifestyle changes were also taking place. More women were finding jobs outside the home. Families often relied on takeout food or frozen dinners and microwave meals that could be prepared quickly. These substitutes for home-cooked meals came with a lot of packaging in plastic, paper, foil, and foam. Items that could be used once and thrown away were convenient for busy people. By the 1980s, countless disposable products such as diapers, razors, and lighters, had replaced items that were once used and reused over and over again.
It wasn’t just the quantity of garbage that had changed. It was the quality. In the early part of the 20th century, most American garbage consisted of food waste. With the development of new materials, especially plastics, a growing portion of garbage was made of inorganic materials, some of which is almost indestructible. That's good if you're making something that's built to last. It's bad when it becomes trash. Construction waste is increasingly made of such materials.
As our rural communities become suburban, as is now quickly occurring up and down the East Coast, the siting of new landfills is becoming increasingly difficult and costly. This along with more stringent landfill regulations are making it increasingly less expensive to recycle, most notably in populated regions.