The first two articles I read for my project today couldn’t have been more different but both provided essential information for the beginning of my journey.

The first one, a dry academic paper titled, ‘Municipal Solid Waste Generation, Composition, and Management: The World Scenario’ was mostly a wall of numbers and dry stats that I had to dig through in order to find information relevant to India. Even then, what was referenced was anywhere from 10- 25 years old! Still, the value of this article was in its definitions and explanations of various waste management strategies, such as Land filling, Incineration, Composting, Recycling and Open Burning.  Also, it did provide statistical projections for the amount of waste we as a species will produce by 2050 (27 Billion tons!)

On the subject of numbers, I noticed some inconsistencies so I earmarked those and will look into it further. One part of the article says that globally (currently) we produce 2 billion tons of MSW (Municipal Solid Waste). Another part further down says we produce 17 billion tons. Maybe I misread, billions and millions? Again, something to clear up as I dig deeper. (If you read this and want to send me corrected information, you can find my email in the “contact me” section. Please source your information. Thanks!)

The vastly more interesting and exciting of the two articles was the second. This was actually in the form of a digital pamphlet provided by the Lancaster County Solid Waste Management Authority (LCSWMA). This is the organization managing my municipality and according to their website they have an extensive and impressive waste management program that integrates renewable and clean energy with environmentally healthy waste disposal practices. They turn trash and methane gas into electricity!

Even better, they offer private and group tours of any of their facilities five days a week. I will definitely be visiting their Waste-to-Energy and Frey Farm Landfill Facility, tape recorder and notebook in hand. I just have to wait until I can walk well again. (I’m currently recovering from hip surgery).

Overall, a successful first day. I was overwhelmed, at first, by the amount of reading I have to do, but I was able to break it down into manageable chunks.

Since I’ve given myself 1 article and summary a week, before I start the next one, I’m going to research some of the basic terminology I found in these two articles so that I understand them more as I continue reading.

-Ashley