The science-fiction writer Brian Aldiss once defined civilization as “the distance man has placed between himself and his excreta,” and we’ve done a good job of distancing ourselves from our waste over the past century. But Aldiss’ definition no longer stands; how can we keep throwing things away when it’s increasingly clear that there is no “away”?
As our population increases, so does the need for housing, and simple math makes it clear that more and more people will be living on or near former landfills. Historically, such toxic locations have been turned into cheap housing for the economically and politically disenfranchised – but the residents of the proposed Pulte Homes condos are going to live that reality, as climate change’s impacts may disturb the equilibrium of the former Superfund site.
Ralph Waldo Emerson, a writer even more prescient than Aldiss, once said that the human race will “eventually die of civilization.” If we are to build a survivable and sustainable future for generations to come, we need to realize: everybody’s trash is everybody’s problem.
– Warren Senders