Field-Trippin' to the Landfill

Okay, it's probably true, I'm guessing I'm a cheap date.  Asking my husband would verify the fact, but it could very well be true. 

Give me a field trip to the Millerville, MD Landfill & Resource Recovery Facility in Anne Arundel County and I"m one happy camper.  I can't wait to get there!!! (Yes, call me weird.)  We did just that--we went to the landfill with my 3rd graders this past Thursday. I must say, it was eye-opening, esp since we were there 1.5 yrs ago and it was REMARKABLE how filled the landfill was compared to where we were 1.5 yrs ago!  With mucho stuff filling that fill that could be recycled!!  So here we are, 1.5 yrs. later...and it's scary, how much higher it is! 

As of where we are now, we've got 3 yrs until this cell (Cell 8 of 9) is filled. Cell 9 is destined to be filled in 2030.  Yes, that's 20 years--maybe slightly more if recycling rates increase.  We're at one cell left, which they are starting to clear land for now.  Trees are going down and turning into mulch (as we speak), and will be awaiting commercial trash here in Cell 9 in 2013.  Yet, it should be and will ultimately be filled, taller than the tallest spot in Anne Arundel County...especially since we are already there, here, now; Thursday we were standing atop the highest spot in AA County (with the tower at BWI airport being the only other height rival). 

Bottom line...Everyone should go to the landfill....to the top, to the bottom, to the worst part, to the best part, to see the deoderizers,to see where the leachate goes, to see how vast it is.  To see how much "stuff" is in there that shouldn't be there...the number of recycled items we saw sitting there, in the 'fill, that could have been/should have been recycled was monumental.  It's an eye-opener on mucho fronts. If you haven't been there, go.  Check it out.  Take it in.  Be there, be in the moment, and truly see! 

Then, come home and, in the words of Anne Arundel's Waste Management's motto, "recycle more often."

To learn more go to http://www.aacounty.org/DPW/WasteManagement/millersLandResRec.cfm#BodyContent or http://www.recyclemoreoften.com/