h andeager for the infusion of Yankee dollars. This, of course, only transfersthe problem from one population to the other. Stories of wandering garbagebarges and orphaned garbage trains have made splashes in American newwpaperheadlines. Covert garbage disposal has become a lucrative business, as theplethora of medical waste washed up along the New Jersey shoreline proves.These anecdotes, while shocking and perversely entertaining, are hardlyrepresentative.Recycling really is making a difference. Newspapers, which used to make up25 to 40 percent of the garbage volume of a typical city, are noweffectively banned from household garbage. Aluminum can recycling has becomea profitable sideline, both for economically disadvantaged and for theaverage homeowner trying to offset the ever-increasing cost of garbagecollection. Construction waste is now barred from landfills in most locales;this high volume material is now recycled or put to Earth-friendly uses,such as making barrier reefs. Plans for the safe incineration of refuse togenerate electric power have presented some highly contentious issues. Theash from such incinerators is normally highly toxic, since it concentratesexisting toxins, and must be disposed of as such. Citizens object to theseplants, in a frenzy of Not-In-My-Backyard syndrome. A clear-cut answer isprobably non-existent. Several effective programs, enacted in unison, willprobably lead us to success....
