Waste and Recycling:Improving waste management
Not to far behind this sheriff’s squad car is a pool of radioactive water. Over 1,000 tons of radioactive material managed to escape the power plant located in Zion ,IL and find it’s way into the formed pool of water.
Take a drive past your local waste management facility and tell me what do you see, better yet what do you smell. Waste management in the past two decades has seen many improvements from the promotion of recycling to championing product re- usual. The face of waste management is forever changing attempting to improve the way we dispose of re-usable and unusable materials in an attempt to improve the environment, animal life, human life and nature as a whole. There have been many great strides in improving waste management in recent decades the most notable being the encouragement to recycle. Every day more and more Americans and cities across the U.S. are adopting plans that involve massive recycling. It’s a great idea however, it’s not that simple. The pictures above vaguely illustrate why the environment particularly waste and recycling interest me. Although many more Americans are recycling and disposing of waste more efficiently they still lack the knowledge to dispose of these materials in a safe and appropriate manner.The picture of carpet recycling says it all. These carpets have been separated at the land fill and taken to a recycling site to be sorted out and disposed of to be salvaged or destroyed. The reason they weren’t left and dumped in the land fill is because carpets don’t react well in the fill with other chemicals and gases. Most carpets are pre-treated for fire safety and easy stain removal and too just throw them in the mix can be catastrophic. This is why I believe the subject is very important, the public needs to be made aware that it’s not as simple as putting trash in trash and recyclables in the recycle bin. Other images such as the radioactive spill exposes the fact that the goverment doesn’t really know how to efficiently dispose of radioactive materials, i’m sure this isn’t just a problem in Zion but across the globe. These pictures raise many questions such as if reckless disposal continues what effects will it have on the environment and society?What prevents harmful materials from being correctly disposed of such as city policy, and how do politics play a role? While it seems simple it’s complexity is far more in depth. We must begin to think before we just toss if not for our sake but the futures sake, for our children, for generations to come.
UPP 101 - Spring 2014 
I found your topic of choice to be one of the more interesting ones in my opinion because it is a topic that not everyone can relate to but also affects everyone. I am happy to see more and more places and people recycling but I do not think that this will in the end solve the waste dumps in the area. As a whole I think that we should be turning to other countries like Sweden and using their way of dealing with trash.
Edwin Harrison Goodridge
The pictures you took give an eerie feeling and make your topic feel that much more serious. I agree with you in that waste and recycling is a problem that needs to be addresed even further. I think the city should have sufficient services that deal with recycables and waste. For example, I once had to drive about ten miles just to dispose of an old tv that I couldn’t put in the regular trash cart because it was hazardous. However, I feel the city has taken some steps forward with this issue. They have deployed blue recycling carts across the city so that people can seperate recycables from trash. These blue carts even have pictures on them that show what’s considered recycable and what’s not.
–Freddie Andrade
The pictures you took give an eerie feeling and make your topic feel that much more serious. I agree with you in that waste and recycling is a problem that needs to be addressed even further. I think the city should have sufficient services that deal with recyclables and waste. For example, I once had to drive about ten miles just to dispose of an old TV that I couldn’t put in the regular trash cart because it was hazardous. However, I feel the city has taken some steps forward with this issue. They have deployed blue recycling carts across the city so that people can separate recyclables from trash. These blue carts even have pictures on them that show what’s considered recyclable and what’s not.
–Freddie Andrade
I thought about this topic, its very crucial to dump waste randomly without management and in return we get pollution. you explained some interesting facts I didn’t know before, like the carpet waste and where the waste goes after they collect it from houses. In my opinion Recycling is respecting the environment we have to develop the habit of doing so.
Thanks for your post! I had no idea that carpet contained harmful chemicals, I also didn’t know that one way of “neutralizing” radioactive waste was to let it sit underground. Its also extremely alarming that the system of storing said waste is so easily overwhelmed to the point of overflowing.
-Rodolfo Benitez
I think it is good that as a society we are starting to feel the need to recycle and be eco-friendly. Even though we are approving and worrying more about our environment, I think it is neccesary that we do more. I think it is interesting how you describe the process.
– Sarahy Jaquez
I liked your topic very much and you showed just the tip of the iceberg in the Chicago area. We really need to step up the game if we can claim to be a green city because recycling is not a way of life for everyone but it should be. I think this topic is something that people don’t discuss a lot because lets be honest how romantic is waste management but it is something that affects everyone. Environmental Planning is becoming a very important step in City Planning, we have to allow for the growth of the city but at what cost to the environment.