The title of this maiden post might put many of you off. Most will say, what rubbish is this? Well it is RUBBISH considering.....
You see, years ago I was assigned to do a corporate profile for a company who wanted to push for paper bags instead of plastic bags. A lot of research ensued and a new love affair blossomed. But it was not passionate enough for it to last long until news broke that we were going nuclear! It was shocking. How can we manage nuclear waste when we are having so much problems handling our municipal wast. So rekindling is an OK word as opposed to the hotstuff reigniting this off and on affair.
Penang is banning plastic bags. So how now?
Of course, paper bags are biodegradable and plastic bags may take decades to biodegrade if they ever do.
I am no tree-hugger although paper-bags mean cutting down trees. If I was a tree-hugger I will encourage every padi-farmer to hug their stalks of padi before harvesting.
Plastic bags can be recycled into park/garden furniture or fences, etc….. and these last longer than wooden furniture, fences etc.
They each have a place in our lives. It is how we dispose of these that create unnecessary problems.
That brings me to what this blog will go into……waste management aka landfills. Of late theSTAR has been having some special reports on landfills, incinerators etc. I do not know what they are leading to with this sudden flurry on the above subjects…..but I just hope they will tell us the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth…..even if there is talk of federalizing landfills!
THIS BLOG INVITES CONTRIBUTORS AT ktswee@hotmail.com
Hey Sampahman, don't believe all you read. I was so pissed off with these special reports that I wrote to the editor as follows:
ReplyDeleteDear Sir,
I am writing in response to the special reports about waste management that appeared in the Nation section of your newspaper on November 1st and 2nd.
While I applaud any attempt to inform the public about this serious social and environmental problem, I was appalled to discover that the series of articles you ran were biased in favour of the politico-corporate cartel that has been running this industry for years. There was no mention at all of the other initiatives that are already taking place in the country which deal with municipal solid waste from a different perspective.
The articles rightly pointed out the problems associated with landfills but to suggest that incinerators are the only option is a best miseading and at worst a deliberate attempt to keep the rate-paying public misinformed.
Incinerator technology is very expensive to build and it operates on traditional non-renewable fuel which means daily running costs are not only high, but they are also unstable due to fluctuations in the global oil price.
A lot of countries that adopted incinerator technology are now moving towards a waste to energy approach to solve municipal waste problems. This approach regards garbage as a valuable resource and reclaims as much as possible in the form of reuseable items and an alternative and renewable industrial fuel which can also be used to generate electricity.
My concern is that there was no mention of this in the so-called in-depth report Don't you think the rate-paying public deserve to be told that there are alternative ways of approaching waste management that are cheaper and environmentally cleaner?
Thanks Mary....Chances are Star if they choose to publish your letter, it will be edited as per editorial policy. I will put up your letter as a posting.
ReplyDeleteSampahman, it is about time this important issue on how our own generated waste that effects our own environment is discussed in the open. All these focus on landfill is not the answer as far as I am concerned. A more sustainable, integrated solution would be the answer where what is finally buried in landfills would be inert and safe. In this way, the waste content that can be recycled and life cycle improved on can be extracted, content that can be dangerous to the environment treated and made inert before being put in landfills. We need to focus on this or else we will end up like civilizations of the past, where they left behind great monuments but they all perished due to disease and death from polluted water and food due to poor waste management.
ReplyDeleteWe need to educate, educate and educate the masses on this.
Cheers
haha
ReplyDeletesampahman looks like old smokin' zorro
Waste is the malodorous rear end of compulsive consumption. 4.5 billion years of evolution... will it all end up in the trashbin of Creation? Pass me another beer! :-D
ReplyDelete