Ep. 33 Trash Cans & Garbage

This week I look at garbage and trash cans and try to figure out what crockery is. Come along for the ride this week as I ask, garbage and trash cans, how did that happen? The first landfill was said to be in 3000 BC in Knossos Crete. An article I read said that the people there would dig deep holes to “hide their refuse” I wasn’t sure if they just meant like human waste or actual trash. Knossos Crete Refuse, not to be confused with refuse as in to turn down. Refuse, as we intend to talk about it, is defined as non-hazardous solid waste that requires collections and transport  to a processing or disposal site. In 500 BC Athens residents were forbidden from throwing trash in the streets. They had a law that stipulated waste had to be disposed of atleast a mile outside the city. And families were responsible for their own trash.  That’s an interesting perspective. Imagine how much less trash you would generate if it was your job to collect and dispose of your trash. The Romans create the first garbage collection service. The greeks were responsible for taking it out themselves, but the romans had a system where people would throw their garbage into the streets and then it would be collected by a guy on horse back who would take it to a big hole they had dug. So we’ve been burying our trash for more than 2000 years. In the Middle Ages they weren’t as clean and food and garbage littered the landscape of those cities.  This is what lead to the rat infestations that would eventually cause the plague, otherwise known as the Black Death, 1349. I’ve mentioned it on other episodes, but the Black Death still exists. And something like 20 people a year still get it.  Look it up. Its out there. In some European cities, it was common for residents to dispose of rotting food and other trash by throwing it out the window. This would attract wild dogs, feral creatures, and other disease spreading pests. By 1388 English parliament had made a rule that no-one could dispose of garbage in public waterways, which you think would be a no brainer. But don’t get me wrong, isn’t that still happening to this day? Answer: yes. This information is from an organization by The Center For Public Integrity. In Ringwood, New Jersey, the Ford Motor Co. dumped more than 35,000 tons of toxic paint sludge onto lands occupied for centuries by the Turtle Clan of the Ramapough Lenape tribe, poisoning groundwater with arsenic, lead and other harmful chemicals. Today, more than 43 years after the dumping ended, those toxins are still in the groundwater and threaten a reservoir providing drinking water to millions of residents of New Jersey. So I’m gonna go down a rabbit hole for a minute, but if you haven’t heard of this study; you should. A chemical named Glyphosate, which is a controversial weed killer that has been linked to cancer. In a recent study, it was found that 80% of the sample had that chemical in their urine. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/glyphosate-roundup-urine-samples-bayer-monsanto-weed-killing-chemical/ But back to the garbage. In medieval Londonthere was an ordinance passed that made the homeowners keep the street in front of their homes clean and garbage began being picked up via tumbrel. Which I had to look up. A tumbrel is an open car that titled backwards to empty out its load.  Initially these loads were taken outside of the city and just dumped on land or river banks. This was a common practice in Europe. During the 1400’s it was reported that mountains of garbage deposited just outside the city gates of Paris interfered with the defense of the city. In 1842 there was a report published by a guy named Edwin Chadwick that basically linked disease and garbage with the poor and tried to explain why they were getting these diseases.  This is all still happening in England. I’m paraphrasing, but this piece of literature lead to a debate about garbage in the str...