EDITOR,
Recycle, bury or burn: These three words are very much part of our present social consciousness.
It's not quite as easy to decide what route to take with what material.
Much has been written about "carbon sinks," i.e. how to lock up our carbon waste so that it does not become part of the dreaded "greenhouse gases" threatening to cause premature harmful climate change. Charring and burying organics has been suggested. Piping waste CO2 from industrial combustion to the depths of our ocean floors is another, or growing as much photosynthetic greenery as possible. There are so many suggestions. One of the most efficient of natural processes is exhibited by marine micro-organisms which grow calcium carbonate skeletons. When they die their skeletons rain down to the ocean floor and eventually get compressed into chalk or limestone rock... a pretty good lock-up! Coral reef formation also does this. Alas, most "carbon sinks" are temporary and the CO2 finally escapes.
This being said, humans carry on digging up fossil fuels, then burn or denature them in various ways to add to the greenhouse gas (GG) inventory in our atmosphere. We chop down vast forests, burn them or make things with the wood, which, too, eventually rots or is burned later... all adding more GGs.
We sometimes forget about the copious amounts of chemicals derived from fossil fuels that we use every day and have to get rid of eventually. Some is burned very soon but much ends up in landfills. We pat ourselves on the back for recycling a lot of it, but it still invariably ends up with the same fate.
Most environmentalists are very squeamish about landfills. They point to the unnecessary waste of useful materials and the negative aesthetics of "dumps." But there is an irony here. Burying material containing potential greenhouse gases is probably one of the most effective methods of locking up the stuff for a long time. This is especially true of non-, or near non-biodegradable matter. Some of this, like various plastics, should be buried after they have been through a few recycling journeys as long as they will not leach toxins. They may be dug up in the future by zealous archeologists but they may stay underground for a very, very long time. This even begs the question as to whether we should be considering the use of biodegradable plastics, since they will contribute to GGs as they break down later.
As far as I am concerned, we ought to recycle what we can and strive to get away from the reliance on fossil fuels, which should remain the fossils they have been for millions of years and remain carbon sinks for more millions of years.
We should bury as much as we cannot recycle of non-biodegradable, non-toxic-leaching materials, and only ever burn what is absolutely necessary. All cosmetic fires should even be banned in houses, camps and in gardens wherever possible. Don't like this? Then never consider yourself as a true environmentalist.
But, please, let this not give you sleepless nights!
Dave Colwell
Squamish