Waste production and disposal was the topic, May 18, at the fourth session of Deanery 5’s series on environmental issues.
Kathy Mattingly, Social Justice Coordinator at St. Thomas of Canterbury Parish, which hosted the session, introduced it by noting that ”sometimes we focus on keeping the environment nice for ourselves, especially in more affluent neighborhoods.”
She urged more consciousness-raising about the bigger picture, especially how the lifestyles of people in more affluent parts of the world affect impoverished people in many areas of the world.
“For me, social justice comes down to caring for the least of God’s people and we need to be conscious of how our own personal lifestyle impacts other countries,” she said.
Mattingly said the Deanery 5 series is geared to “learning about the next step. How can we connect what we do every day to a genuine concern for the world and how we interact with our environment?”
She introduced two Santa Clara University sophomores who facilitated the discussion based on a showing of the film entitled “Trashed” which dealt with waste disposal, landfill issues and the exponential increase of household waste in recent years.
SCU students Ian Dougherty and Adrienne Syme each led a group discussion with attendees, asking, “What does sustainability mean to you?”
The students participate in a sustainability program at SCU and are enrolled in a course taught by Brother Keith Warner, OFM, who kicked off the Deanery 5 series in February with “Environmental Justice in the Franciscan Tradition” (The Valley Catholic, March 16 edition).
Dougherty said, “Most of us have a general awareness of sustainability and the environment, but how do we as Catholics relate this to our faith?”
He told of a Scouting experience he had several years ago during which he camped outdoors in a forest -- sleeping outside with no tent or sleeping bag, using natural elements as shelter and being covered with spiders while he was trying to sleep.
In the midst of this, however, he found a positive experience in “being in this huge dark forest with a full moon and in dead silence.
“It was amazing how bright the moon was – how it lit up everything – it was beautiful, and so quiet!” Dougherty said.
That experience has stayed with him as he pursues his interest and education in environmental concerns. “It really gets down to realizing how much we actually need,” he said.
“Trashed” focused on increasing waste being produced, especially in the United States where, since, 2000, each American is producing 4.5 pounds of waste every day.
Some 400 million tons of garbage are produced every year and delivered to the 10,000 landfills in the U.S., many of which are increasingly in neighborhoods, near schools and public parks.
These landfills are a huge source of methane gas which is connected to the earth’s warming and climate change. The life span of a landfill is approximately four to eight years. They fill quickly and more landfills are created.
“Waste management” was referred to as a huge industry which comes under the general heading of “sanitation.” One of the first “sanitary” landfills was established in Fresno in the 1930s.
The U.S. represents about five percent of the world’s population, but uses 25 percent of its natural resources. In addition, the U.S. produces huge amounts of “trash” due to consumerism, disposability and lifestyle issues.
In general, Americans buy “new” instead of repairing and re-using. The U.S. economy is fueled by advertising and “obsolescence.” People are propagandized to keep buying “newer” and “better” products.
One of the many scientists and experts in the film noted that conservation of all things was the order of the day during World War II in the early 1940s when food and almost everything else was rationed to provide for the “war effort.”
Americans coped then because of the greater good. Post-war, however, the U.S. economy burgeoned and there was an array of new products made with new materials.
Plastics became paramount and formed the basis of innumerable new “disposable” convenient products.
The film showed an endless array of landfills with every day solid waste matter – plastic, Styrofoam and food packing containers for take-out and frozen meals.
Although not specifically part of the landfill topic, the subject of increasing electronics disposal was mentioned as a huge challenge.
Dougherty pointed out that there are strict laws about computer and cell phone disposal in the U.S., but that parts of India, for example, are becoming a dumping ground for these items.
“I guess if we don’t see what’s going on in other parts of the world, we don’t care,” he said.
Group discussion revolved around the need to reduce, reuse and recycle, and the need to create economic incentives to encourage that.
A business man featured in “Trashed” recycles an array of items, especially old doors and plumbing fixtures, which he collects from dumps, refurbishes and sells at reasonable prices.
“I deal with a lot of millionaires,” he said, “and they know how to make money by saving money. Money is the best motivator for recycling. We need entrepreneurs who will make it work.”
Dougherty said, “The main point is that the throw-away mentality is catching up with us. We have to stop consuming so much. Trash may be hauled off in trucks, but it doesn’t disappear. We need built-in sustainability.”
• Father Hao Dinh, pastor of St. Thomas of Canterbury, also contributed to this report.