Journey To The Center Of A Landfill
In early human history, most food was consumed
where it was found and most goods were made near the origin of
their raw materials. Very little packaging was needed for things
like storage or transportation. When containers were needed, people
utilized gourds, shells, leaves, hollowed logs, woven grasses,
and animal organs. As ores and chemical compounds were discovered,
metals and pottery were developed. With each new container providing
greater and more efficient protection, goods were able to travel
much further without harm. Over the centuries, humans have continued
to create innovative ways to package goods. However, in recent
years packaging materials in the U.S. have become increasingly
disposable, being thrown away after just one use.
Every day, consumption habits are recorded by
the products and packaging that is locked in the horizontal layers
of landfills. Traveling to the center of a landfill and examining
the layers can uncover the history of a changing society. Imagine
that we’ve dug ourselves deep down into the very bottom of a landfill
that began operating in 1600 A.D. What do you think we might find?
How about a metal bucket that was once used to collect milk from
a cow? Milk is an example of a product that has been packaged
in a variety of ways over the years.
Americans
have been consuming milk regularly since the 1600s. Until the
American Revolution (1775), most dairy products were collected
in a bucket that was reused over and over. Because milk had to
be consumed within 24 hours, most dairy products did not travel
beyond the farm on which they were produced. Consequently, no
packaging was needed.
If we climb up a few layers to trash from the
early 1800s we find large metal containers that milkmen used to
deliver daily supplies of fresh milk to families. We also see
small ceramic or metal containers, called milk cans, which each
household would set out for the milkman to fill. Both containers
were reused many times until broken or worn out.
Moving
up to the 1878 layer of the landfill, we come across the first
glass milk jars. For the next 54 years the milkman delivered full
jars and collected empty jars of milk from each household. The
empty jars were then cleaned, refilled, and delivered again.
Ascending
closer to the surface, we are surrounded by trash deposited in
1932. This is where we see the first plastic coated paper milk
carton. School children everywhere began drinking their daily
servings from these disposable packages. You many have noticed
that there are many more milk cartons in this layer than there
were glass jars, metal jugs, or metal buckets in the previous
layers. The disposable nature of milk cartons creates much more
waste than the previous packaging materials, which were reused.
While
milk continued to be delivered to households in glass jars, even
after milk cartons were introduced, we begin to see a gradual
decrease in glass milk jars after the 1964 layer. This was the
year that milk became available in plastic jugs. These convenient,
lightweight, disposable containers become increasingly present
in each layer of the landfill up to today. Even if recycled, resources
are still required to manufacture and transport each single use
jug. Milk’s newest container, aseptic packaging, is not accepted
for recycling in many programs because it is a composite of paper,
plastic, and aluminum, which requires the proper equipment to
separate.
As we progressed up each layer of the landfill,
you witnessed the many changes that milk packaging has experienced
over the years. The increase of disposable packaging is especially
concerning. Various factors are responsible for those changes:
market competition, unusual events (e.g., war), lifestyle changes,
discoveries, and inventions. Similarly, a variety of influences
will shape packaging of the future. However, a very influential
factor will always be consumer choice. Ultimately, what society
chooses to buy will affect what is produced. So, when making any
purchase, not just milk, be aware of the influence you are having
on what products are available and how they are packaged.
Resources:
http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/pdffiles/AE/AE20600.pdf
http://www.idfa.org/facts/milk/milkfact/milk4.pdf
http://www.madehow.com/Volume-4/Milk.html
