Solid Waste  WasteDump.gif (387 bytes)

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(from http://www.web.net/~partisan/marx.images/davis.html)
"Our heritage of wastefulness is derived from an economy which now demands that the volume of waste be constantly increased in order that the economy itself be maintained."    --Percy H. McGaughey, 29 June 1965, testimony, U.S. House Interstate and Foreign Commerce subcommittee

TextMiller.gif (1060 bytes)  Assigned outside reading

BallRed.gif (967 bytes)  Miller, pp. 312 - 331 (Chapter 11)

ReadOnln.gif (285 bytes)  Assigned online reading

BallRed.gif (967 bytes)  How corporate capitalism creates consumerism -- Consumerism: profiting from waste

BallRed.gif (967 bytes)  How corporate capitalism exploits environmental racism to minimize solid waste costs:  Solid waste and environmental racism  [400 words] 

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  Some Solutions to Solid Waste
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Think of all the jobs... A plea for common sense...

Q-Write.gif (1242 bytes)  Questions to answer concerning solid waste:

1. Solid waste can simply be defined as:

2. Municipal solid waste (MSW) constitutes what per cent of all solid waste produced in the U.S. each year?

3. What percentage of MSW in the United States in 1996 was recycled? --What happened to the rest?

4. What are two major advantages and two major disadvantages of incinerating solid waste?

5. What are two major advantages and two major disadvantages of landfilling solid waste?

6. What is the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA)?

7. What is the Superfund Act?

8. Name and briefly describe five major solid waste solutions, in order from best to worst generally:

9. What is consumerism, and in the United States why has capitalism favored it?

10. Describe four tactics that capitalists commonly use to advance consumerism:

11. How does consumerism affect our environment?

12. What is environmental racism, and how and why is it employed in the solid waste issue?

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A bonus thrown in...

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Emphasize recycling,
in order to rationalize continuing excessive production and consumption

Emphasize reduction of production and consumption, in order to avoid waste and stuff to recycle

Optional Resources concerning Solid Waste

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Thomas Detwyler maintains this page (tdetwyle@uwsp.edu)
Last updated 8 June 2001