Consumption

Consumption is something that is easy to take for granted in our fast paced and demanding lives. What we do in a moment is easily forgotten when we are focusing on our current and future goals. In my life, I try to raise my awareness of the small details so that I can lessen my impact.  However, my life is full of demands that I must meet and energy consumption becomes a very necessary part of my routine. In completing the Footprint Calculator,  I discovered that my ecological footprint would require 4.3 Planet Earths and 19.3 global acres of the planet's productive area in order to support others in the same lifestyle. In some ways I am not surprised, because I know that Americans live well above the standard of necessity in order to meet the ever rising demands of production and growth. The lifestyle I live right now is not one that I would want to continue living to this degree in the future. Right now I am in college and live very far away for affordable housing. I drive a lot and do not pack food often because I am usually out for long periods of time or do not have a lot of time to prepare meals. I also prefer to grow my own vegetables, but since I moved I have to start my garden all over again, which can take some time. I will keep these ideas in mind when making future choices in my life so that I can continue to lower my ecological footprint.

Before visiting the Waste to Energy facility, I was bothered by any garbage I created. I didn't know how the garbage was dealt with, but I assumed it wasn't in any good or productive way. Needless to say that I was pleasantly surprised to discover that Lee County was so sustainable.

Garbage dumping area - Waste to Energy Facility

The garbage dumping area was pretty gross and eye opening to see all the garbage flow that was constantly coming into the facility. Many items seem reusable to me, such as pallets, but not everyone in a consumerist and consumptionist society cares to see the reuse value in items. Though it all seems like a waste, I'm happy that this facility takes waste and creates a use for it. For all the garbage burned here, there are less fossil fuels needed to produce electricity for the community. It was also interesting that they had the inside of the facility pressurized in order to pull in airflow from the outside and manage the smell of the garbage.

Central monitoring system of the Waste to Energy Facility

During our tour, we were told about the negative connotation of burning garbage, but also about how this facility was different than the old time incinerators. The Waste to Energy Facility is designed to be sustainable and put the garbage through a process of recovering left over metals and the air through a process of filtration. By the time the air leaves the facility through the chimneys, it contains 70% less harmful chemicals than the Clean Air Act deems to be a safe level. A highly trained employee monitors all of the processes of the facility, including its output on several computers to ensure everything is running smoothly and efficiently.

First line of defense in catching non-recyclable items - Recycling Facility

The recycling facility was also interesting, because we got to view many different processes occurring simultaneously through a monitor while our tour guide explained. I never really knew how recyclables were sorted and especially how much trash they received. It amazes me that people would treat recycling in this manner. The concept has been around for so long already that I would think that people would be more educated on the matter. It's troubling that cords and plastic bags can get tangled up in the machine and cause it to shut down for 45 minutes. This is the opposite of efficiency. If people are unsure about whether something is recyclable, they should just throw it away, especially since that waste is turned into energy in Lee County.

Compacted recyclables - Recycling Facility

Something else I didn't know was that even though some materials are recyclable, Lee County does not recycle them because of their equipment or because it is less effective to recycle them due to their weight. This makes sense, because of the fact that the garbage facility turns waste into energy. In other places, this might not be the case. The weight of the recyclables matters since they are sold after they are compacted into blocks. After learning all this, I was very glad to be of service in stuffing bags to educate residents on proper recycling. Education is key for both waste management and recycling!