A Brief History of Dumping

 
Yesterday I posted the breakdown of 50 tons of garbage an individual generates in a lifetime published by Betsy Towner in the September AARP Bulletlin.
 
Today's post gives you Ms Towner's "Brief History of Dumping," and it's got some surprises!
 
500 BC Athens establishes western civilization's first city dump and one-mile trash-free zone outside the city walls.
 
1690 First paper recycling mill opens near Philadelphia.
 
1899 NYC opens garbage-sorting facility to capture recyclables.
 
1900 To dispose of food surplus, US cities use "piggeries" where swine eat resident's discarded slop.
 
1934 US Supreme Court prohibits dumping of municipal waste into ocean.
 
1937 Fresno, CA establishes nation's first "sanitary" landfill, a dump where soil and ash are laid over garbage to contain fumes and odor.
 
1974 University City, MO, establishes nation's first curbside bin pickup program for recycling newpapers.
 
2008 Moviegoers slurp jumbo sodas and munch bucketsfull of popcorn while watching Wall-E, the tale of an endearing trash compactor on a toxic Earth.
 
Just think, if we could set up "trash-free" zones, we will have come full circle with 500 BC Greece!