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More trash, fewer options with deflated waste fees
John Lawrence Hanson
Jan. 1, 2023 7:00 am
What is our moral obligation for the trash we make? Garbage is a strange gift we bequeath to future generations. It seems like we’ve been getting away with ever cheaper dumping, thus encouraging more trash.
On Dec. 21, The Gazette reported on tipping fees and the future of trash in Linn County. The current fee is $42/ton, the baseline fee in 1994 was $35. The price in fact has gone down. Using the Federal Reserve Bank’s inflation calculator, the 1994 fee would be $69.51 in today’s dollars. Perhaps the listed alternatives to landfills are more affordable upon re-examination? Until consumers pay an upfront fee at the time of purchase for goods destined for the heap there is little felt consequence in our culture of planned obsolescence.
John Lawrence Hanson
Marion
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