Landfills and Global Warming (YES, Believe it!)

I know that we talked about global warming a little bit last week, this is the latest MSW magazine and they have a crazy article on Landfills impact on global warming. The article was extremely long and very involved with a lot of studies, charts and graphs, but I will try to explain it so you can understand.
As awareness regarding the potential threat of climate change has grown in the US, many local governments and businesses are being asked to consider implications of their actions, and believe it or not, the trash we throw away has a major potential impact in climate change. The major types of Green House Gases (GHGs) that are introduced into the atmosphere by human activity are carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, hydroflourocarbons, and a variety of others. Carbon Dioxide and Methane taking up about 80% of all generated and the 20% that is left is a medley of about 20-25 other gases.
In the article, there is a section that breaksdown how the CO2 and Methane are created, they call this section Carbon Accounting and the Carbon Footprint. In the Solid Waste World, CO2 and CH4 go hand in hand. In 2003, The EPA reported that the US generated 236 tons of trash! That is approximately 4.5 lbs per person PER DAY! That trash then has three different destinies. One, it goes to a landfill, in the report, they go so far as how much emissions one would produce a year if it was collected by a trash hauler or it was brought to a transfer station. When trash ends up in a landfill, it then starts the bio process, that means that it is going to breakdown. Little bugs and vectors and microscopics are going to start eating, and when they eat (with a little moisture) they accumulate. With all that eating and accumulation the bye product of this is gases, and 80% of them are GHGs. The second destiny is incineration! Guess what, the emissions from that is almost all Carbon Dioxide, 90% to be exact, the rest is a medly of other gases and particulates. Third and final and least impact is baling. This takes the trash and pacts it into vacuum tight and sealed bales. Shelf life can be, well they are not sure to be exact, but they produce very little GHGs. They do interupt the cycle of life and the food chain. They also take up a lot of space that will never really breakdown. This practice is very popular in Europe.
To wrap this article up, it states Methane has a more powerful greenhouse effect than CO2, and that the way Americans handle their trash accounts for 25% of the United States Methane emissions! I could not see the proof in the article, but it states that one ton of methane is estimated by the scientific community to make the same contribution to global warming as 23 tons of Carbon Dioxide. Americans are the most materialistic country in the world. We want everything and we want it new, so when the crap we get can be replaced a few years from now. And on top of that we are crazy eaters. Advertisements are coming from all directions and encourages us to consume, and consume we do. But what can we do about our trash? I guarentee everyone that read this blogg had no idea our own trash is a major player in the effects of global warming! Reduce, Reuse and Recycle, is still not enough at this point, but it is a start!