Above, one of three mounds at the Seneca Meadows Landfill in Waterloo, NY, as seen from the west side of Seneca Lake approximately eight miles away (through a telephoto lens). Credit: Kevin Colton, HWS.

EPA Region Map

EPA Region Map
EPA Region Map

Sunday, March 6, 2011

The other day I was walking to Geneva dorm when I saw a group of balloons stuck in a tree in between Medburry and Demerest. The strings were tangled in the tree, and as of yesterday, they were still stuck, but now deflated and sad looking. I know every person has a memory of being a small child who accidentally let their balloon go. When you are small your parents might tell you that your balloon is going to balloon heaven, but in actuality they end up stuck somewhere. I remember seeing one stuck in tree when I was in the middle of a state park in Connecticut. The latex balloons will take about 6 months to decompose, but the Mylar (metalized plastic/nylon material) may never decompose, but it is recyclable. How long those balloons will stay stuck in that tree is a good question to consider. (they are far to high up to reach by climbing.)

The other pictures I took this week were of a package my boyfriend received. He had a medication shipped that needed refrigeration. The actual medication came in a box about 5in x 5in x 1in. To keep it cold while in transport, it was placed next to a cold pack inside a reflective bag, inside a Styrofoam box, inside a card board box. The cardboard box was about 1 cubic foot. All of that packing for 2 weeks worth of medication. Over the course of the year, 26 times this amount of waste is produced just for this one prescription!

1 comment:

  1. http://blog.games.yahoo.com/blog/445-balloon-stunt-raises-anger-in-san-francisco

    check out this link, very similar to your point.

    ReplyDelete