y into the atmosphere. Based on ice core samples from Antarctica, themethane concentration in the Earth's atmosphere, over the past 160,000years, has fluctuated between 0.3 and 0.7 parts per million. In 1987, themethane count was 1.7 ppm [McKibben 17-17].The modern landfill is not alone in its defiance of decomposition. Theexcavation in 1884 of an ancient Roman dump had to be halted periodically sothe workers could get fresh air, so unbearable was the stench from thestill-extant refuse [Rathje 113]. In today's landfills, decomposition isnegligible. While the total tonnage of garbage decreases over years, duemostly to dessication, the volume varies less than ten percent. Most of theactual short-term rotting is from scraps of prepared food. Plasticsbiodegrade not at all. Biodegradable plastic is an oxymoron at best; themost unstable plastic requires intense sunlight to decompose, and sunlightis denied in a sanitary landfill. Newspapers from before World War Two arestill readable; they have, in fact, become important date markers forscientists examining garbage strata in landfills [Rathje 112-13].The public is sadly misinformed as to what comprises the bulk of municipalgarbage. A typical survey shows that the average American sees thedisposable diaper as the number one culprit for the premature closing of ourlandfills. This is a sad and costly misconception. According to the mostrecent scientific studies, disposable diapers account for only 0.53 to 1.28percent of all landfill deposits, by volume [Rathje 162-63].If burning garbage and dumping garbage at sea are unacceptable, what are thealternatives? Of the landfills, sanitary and otherwise, open for business in1979, 85 percent are now closed [Miller 527]. Where is all the garbagegoing? Some municipalities are shipping garbage to other cities, or evenother states, a costly proposition. Larger metropolitan agencies have eventaken to shipping garbage to third world countries, strapped for cas...
