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John
Trotti
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What?
We’re Facing More Change?
I’ve
just returned from SWANA’s 6th Annual Landfill
Symposium, an event that cast in bold relief just how
rapidly and dramatically the waste management field
is changing and how imperative it is for us all to stay
abreast of the changes and the factors that drive them.
It’s
been little more than two years since the bioreactor
movement began to gather serious support within the
landfill community, yet already it has forged its way
to the fore of discussion topics among landfill operators
and managers of other waste management practices alike.
How do we
proceed? Which makes more sense: holding to the familiar
road of the established solid waste management hierarchy
or stepping in new directions where few guideposts exist
to mark the way? We’re headed into a time of tough
decisions, and that is what we need to focus on first.
If you look
around at how well we’re established on the road
to sustainability, you’d see that we’ve just
about cleaned out the bank account and placed a heavy
strain on our creditworthiness. Many of our so-called
"environmental" programs are reactionary to
the point that they not only fail to do what they’re
supposed to, they also stand in the way of effective
action, often by blinding us to the issues underlying
the challenges we face on a daily basis. In terms of
solid waste, this comes down to programs geared toward
disappearing trash from sight, but that do so in ways
reflecting a value system founded nearly four decades
ago amid sentiments that might no longer be consistent
with what our society sees as its future goals. I’m
not questioning the wisdom of traditional environmental
programs but rather their relevance to the challenges
of increasing globalization in a world of finite resources.
We’re
going to have to do better in our stewardship of resources,
so the "not-invented-here" syndrome opposing
new or different solutions because they don’t meet
a particular set of beliefs needs to be reevaluated.
We face hard questions that will not go away through
the espousal of politically correct doctrine or continued
pleas for what ought to be, because when push
comes to shove, the only effective actions will be those
dealing with what society does. This brings us to the
sticking point: political action.
It is both
the bane and boon of our society that we are all answerable
to someone. We answer to a board of directors or an
elected body or both, and they in turn answer to the
public-at-large and posterity. Despite whatever concern
they might have for us and our waste management issues,
the people we report to likely have enough other fish
to fry, so engaging their full attention is difficult,
if not impossible.
Recognizing
this, SWANA established a program for local waste board
members and made it an integral part of its annual WASTECON
program. It’s designed to do what any of us would
love to do ourselves: have an uninterrupted opportunity
to provide insight into the broad issues of waste management
and the challenges facing us in the future. It’s
not just the subject matter that is so valuable, but
the venue itself, protected from the myriad distractions
and concerns that often prevent us from presenting our
case in a compelling manner.
This year’s
WASTECON will take place October 16-18 in Baltimore.
What a place for your board members or elected officials
to go and become immersed in issues that you and they
need to address–issues that include getting trash
off the street as well as stewardship and how waste
management fits into long-range plans for livable communities
and a sustainable future. Additionally, on October 15,
SWANA will make arrangements for you and your board
members and elected officials to meet with your congressional
representatives and/or staff: an opportunity you won’t
want to miss. I urge you to make arrangements to attend
WASTECON now while there’s still time.
Send
John an email
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