Curbside Rummage or Illegal Dumping : The slippery slope of second hand goods
Waste is a complicated issue.
It is not an easy one to solve or manage when the world generates at least 3.5 million tons of plastic and other solid waste A DAY. according to World Bank researchers.
The U.S. is the king of trash, producing a world-leading 250 million tons a year—roughly 4.4 pounds of trash per person per day, with 323.7 million people living in the United States, that is roughly 728,000 tons of daily garbage – enough to fill 63,000 garbage trucks. That is 22 billion plastic bottles every year.
Illegal dumping is a worldwide issue. In fact, it’s been estimated that there are nearly one hundred million tons of illegally dumped waste in the world. Americans alone are estimated to illegally dump almost 1.5 million tons of trash each year.
The governments scramble to manage waste, instead of looking upstream to the source: manufacturing and production. It would be helpful if there was a focus on producing less stuff, pressure to abandon this "fancy" packaging made of mixed materials that are impossible to recycle, if our social norms were to buy less, repurpose more, share, trade, repair. But instead, the government focuses on the end of life, the clean up. Which does nothing to curb the tide of rushing waste into our landfills or environment, it is just a shuffling of waste around to "better" places.
Garage sales, op shops, online marketplaces are where I do my best shopping. If I need something I buy it second hand--tech, clothing or furniture. My eye is peeled for "FREE" signs on the side of the road, I relish in a good yard sales (damn we have good clothes swaps at the Byron sales!), and I oft find myself scrolling marketplace for a fab deal to lavish the home with.
However, there is more to this than meets the bargain-hunting eye. For what happens if it rains before these seductive items get scooped up? Do they stay on the curb, rotting & shedding plastic fibres into the water ways? Does the owner get fed up and toss them into the woods? Do they donate them to an op shop passing on the burden to an already cash-strapped charity? (Many people don't just donate to op shops, they dump at op shops. Anyone guilty of donating something that no longer works or you know no one would buy or wear? The costs incurred by charities included the requirement for additional resources, including truck operators to collect the material, and staff to sort it and isolate genuine donations from waste. The total cost of illegal dumping to their organisation was cited by one charity as being upwards of a million dollars annually.)
Or do they do the proper thing and bring them to the tip where they pay per ton of waste they're dropping off? Here at least the volunteers sort through items to be put into the REUSE shops where items get sold for cheap. Many tips in Aus even offer upcycling workshops & other community services to invest in repurpose & repair culture!
(In Aus, Estimated costs of the disposal of putrescible waste to landfill range between $45 and $105 per tonne of waste in urban areas and between $42 and $102 per tonne in rural areas depending on the level of management controls and prevailing climate. In California, the majority of landfills charged $36 to $50 per ton.)
So good unwanted things should be donated to op shops or sold on marketplaces. Broken, ruined items should be brought to the tip. Many cities have scheduled "clean up" dates and allocate 5 additional free pick up dates for you to choose at your convenience. You book in online. In an attempt to reclaim recyclable items, you are asked to separate and sort your items into three groups: 1 1. mattresses, 2. Furniture and bulky household items, 3. Whitegoods, metals & e-waste (ANYTHING with a battery, plug, or power cord!) (There are more guidelines to follow to help waste collection programs, do look yours up!) These items must be kept separate so the correct truck picks them up & they get transported to the correct processing facility.
Apparently in the past you could put items out days in advance and a city wide rummage would ensue, allowing people to gather and repurpose turning each other's trash into treasure. However the city received complaints at the messy aesthetics and the pick up trucks had less tidy piles to sort. Thus now you can only put things out 24 hours before pick up, meaning more things end up in landfill than should. Is this pick up system enabling more throwaway culture, enabling mainstream consumer addiction to more and new, instead of pressuring reuse, repair, repurpose or trading and selling used goods? Absolutely. but it's not a choice made lightly. The governments offer this service in response to another problem: illegal dumping.
Illegal dumping of waste is an ongoing and highly visible problem in NSW. The definition of illegal dumping in NSW is: ‘Waste materials that have been dumped, tipped or otherwise deposited onto land where no licence or approval exists to accept such waste. Illegal dumping varies from small bags of rubbish in an urban environment to larger scale dumping of waste materials in isolated areas, such as bushland.’ The Protection of the Environment Operations Act 1997 (POEO Act) provides a tiered range of illegal dumping offence provisions/fines, ranging from spot-fines to maximum penalties for individuals of fines up to $1,000,000 and/or seven years in jail in cases where there is harm to the environment.
Illegal dumping is a serious offence. "Waste dumped on the curb" is viewed by the government as the most common type of illegal dumping in NSW. AKA our fav shopping site?? While we might happily collect perfectly good baskets or shelves, if not collected, the government is left to deal with this "waste" and it is considered illegally dumped as "this waste can pollute the environment, make streets unsafe and unattractive, & place a financial burden on local government."
The NSW government is less focused on repairing or repurposing. THeir focus is to reduce the financial burden of having to collect deteriorated mattresses and furniture and harmful e-waste from ditches. So they prevent this from happening with regular council pick ups. They are literally relying on SOCIAL NORMS to make the difference. This is from the EPA's Illegal Dumping Research report:
Based on the findings of the EPA's research, future strategies and interventions to reduce illegal dumping ought to:
capitalise on businesses’ concern for their reputation reinforce the social norm that illegal dumping is unacceptable create a social norm around reporting illegal dumping increase the perceived likelihood of being caught dumping in state forests and at charity bins raise the profile of the personal consequences (i.e. magnitude of fines, prison sentences), and ensure fines are more than the savings made by dumping illegally educate householders to request evidence of legal disposal from any contractors used share best practice relating to strategies to minimise, enforcement, and clean-up among LGAs and other land managers.
Should we be empowered to take matters into our own hands to help create and enforce these social norms? Or is this putting the burden back on citizens when the government should be taxing the manufacturers and producers of cheaply made goods that break too soon? How does one respond to this complicated shit show? Amidst all the issues facing us, we can't even have a good old fashioned curbside rummage without breaking the law.
I believe we follow guidelines offered and participate in the waste collection/drop off services, AFTER we have sold things online, sorted the good things to donate to op shops, found repurpose communities to gauge interest for less desirable items, and done our best to reuse in our homes. Putting things on the lawn on days with no rain. Pulling things back inside if the rains do come. The more we become responsible for our own waste, the more reverent we become about making waste. We are more careful in our purchasing behavior, selecting items that will last longer and perhaps even taking care to repair things before replacing them.
In 2015, the NSW Government identified reduction of illegal dumping as a priority, with a target of reducing illegal dumping in Sydney, the Illawarra, Hunter and Central Coast by 30 per cent by 2016. To support this goal, $58 million of funding over five years has been allocated to combat illegal dumping under the $465.7 million Waste Less, Recycle More initiative.
The Australian EPA conducts regular studies into community knowledge about waste disposal and collection. The distance to waste disposal facilities may contribute to decisions to dump illegally. Most in the community and in industry did not experience difficulties accessing waste disposal facilities; however, householders who had further to travel to landfills were more likely to dump waste illegally (in places other than or in addition to the kerbside). Cost avoidance is a key driver for businesses to dump illegally. The majority of the general community also found waste disposal very expensive; however, for most this did not drive them to dump their waste illegally. Concern for the environmental impacts of dumping was fairly low, and appears to be lowest among the householders and businesses who are dumping illegally (in places other than or in addition to the kerbside).
More from the EPA website:
What is illegal dumping?
Illegal dumping is the disposal of waste larger than litter on land or in water without the correct approvals (an environment protection licence or planning approvals).
Illegal dumping can include
placing unwanted household items on the footpath when there is no council collection
dumping rubbish or green waste in the bush or on the side of a road
businesses or contractors who are paid to correctly dispose of commercial waste but instead dump it on land without proper approvals
dumping asbestos waste
Why is illegal dumping a problem?
Illegal dumping can
harm human health
contaminate the environment and soil, and poison plants and animals
smother native vegetation
introduce weeds into sensitive bushland
pollute waterways
degrade culturally sensitive environments
make public places dangerous to use
create a fire risk and endanger people’s lives by blocking emergency access
degrade land value
cost millions of dollars in taxpayer money each year to clean up
undermine legitimate businesses
LOOK UP HOW TO REPORT ILLEGAL DUMPING IN YOUR AREA.
Sydney: https://www.cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au/report-issue/report-illegal-dumping
SOURCES
https://www.environment.gov.au/system/files/pages/5a160ae2-d3a9-480e-9344-4eac42ef9001/files/national-waste-report-2020.pdf
https://www.epa.nsw.gov.au/~/media/EPA/Corporate%20Site/resources/illegaldumping/150481-illegal-dumping-report.ashx
https://www.dumpsters.com/blog/consequences-of-illegal-dumping
https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/illegally-dumped-waste-surges-in-sydney-due-to-covid-cleanout-20200323-p54d3v.html