[.ca] The Waste Crisis: Landfills, Incinerators, and the ... (ISBN 0195128982)

Sustainable Future is in our hands:
This book is just as fascinating as its title, that attracts much attention especially for the people dealing with waste management. To read it, one needs to be patient enough until find the most interesting chapters, which are the half last chapters. The several first chapters describe one by one facts why "monstrous" landfills are not suitable anymore for waste disposal alternatives, depicting the wide experience and knowledge of the author. It is written based on his experience in waste management activities in North America. In the end of every chapter, there topic discussions and assignments that make the readers actively involved in tracing the problems and seek for the solutions. The interactive style of each sentence also lets the reader think and try to argue or agree with the opinion of the author. For people that familiar with waste problems, introduction chapters seem queit boring, but the systematical explanantion makes it still worth to surf. The beginning of the interesting parts of this book is the 8th chapter, "Are there better disposal methods?" The most creative ways ever are suggested, from the "make sense" one like deep underground disposal and landfill mining accompanying by incinerator and recycling program, until "exotic solutions" that includes "shooting out the waste into outer space". It seems funny, but, who knows it could be alternative that no one ever thought before. The deep comprehensive experience is shown once again in chapter"NIMBY" (Not in My Back Yard), describes the reason behind lack of communication between private and government with local people whose their settlement is to be a waste treatment or disposal area. Some useful suggestions concerning the waste management hierarchy are the new things that cannot be found in other books. The author tells what the practical managament hierarchy now (in North America), starting from disposal in landfill, recycling, reduction at soruce, and incinerator. His suggestion is the first one is reduction at source (of course), recycling and incinerator, and phase out of the near-surface landfills (other landfill methods like landfill mining and deep underground one are still tolerated, at least in the next 30 years) Just like the author said, theory is fine, but practical experience is the heart of real learning, this book also provides case studies, ranging from Canada, New York, until success story in Sweden. The verz last part, shows the vision not only of the author, I think, but of all human race wanting desparately for better future, with green, clean, organized environment. --- Martha Maulidia