No, I'm Not Kidding

This morning Matthew had a field trip to the dump. Yup. The local landfill. I was pretty apprehensive about the whole thing. I mean, I remember going to the dump with my dad when I was a kid and it smelled like the diaper pail times about a million. And smells bother me. A lot. So I really didn't want to go. But Matthew was so excited about it that we couldn't skip it. And guess what? It wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be.

We met in the office and learned about how they prepare the ground for the trash so the groundwater doesn't get contaminated. We learned about how they move and compact the trash. We learned about what can and cannot be recycled. And we learned that our landfill was supposed to last for thirty more years but at the rate we're going it is only going to last another sixteen. It seems that in Utah we only recycle about 15% of our trash while nationwide the rate is about 45%. We also learned that the reason we cannot put glass in our recycling bins is that the closest location for recycling glass is in Colorado. Because Utahns don't consume many alcoholic beverages, we don't actually use anywhere near as much glass as the rest of the country. And because we don't have glass in our recycling, Salt Lake is the only place in the country that can recycle plastic soda bottles into new plastic soda bottles because there is no chance of broken glass getting into the plastic.

After the educational part, we got on a shuttle bus and rode out to the actual landfill part so the kids could see all the big trucks at work. The bus was completely enclosed so we didn't even smell anything icky. We also got to see a brand new giant hole that is nearly ready for trash. The current hole is almost full. Our guide told us it is rare to get to see a new hole that doesn't actually have trash in it yet.

So, much to my surprise, it was actually a really interesting field trip. Our guide told us the kids usually talk about garbage for weeks after visiting. Matthew is already much more willing to run things out to the recycling bin for me, so we'll see how long his fascination with garbage lasts...