In Chapter 1, we get introduced to a man named Mike Speiser 'Big Mike' and his many contributions to the formation of the Puente Hills landfills, located south of the San Gabriel Valley. His greatest accomplishment comprises 130 million tons of trash and counting. Puente Hills is greater than five hundred feet above the original ground level, big enough to have its own micro climate and wind patterns.What is surprising me is the fact that we made this happen. Why haven't we found a solution yet to how we're going to get rid of this trash properly without causing damage to the environment? We've become a nation that sells trash to foreign countries, buy products that's been packaged inside cardboard formed by our recycled trash, and throw the packaging material inside our bins in order to sell our garbage again.
A simple example we're all guilty of; we all have perfectly working Iphones, yet when a newer version comes out, we run to the store and purchase it just so we could have that new feature in our hands as we toss the other one in the bin. It's all trends. We cause it, we follow it, and we destroy the environment because of it.
Chapter 2 was mostly stressed towards New York City during the twentieth century. Causes of death were relating to the illnesses spreading through Europe during the Dark Ages. A large amount of people were dying due to illnesses caused by garbage thrown on the streets, causing pollution and unsafe drinking water. A man named William Strong made it his duty to clean up the city. He was a Civil War veteran who had worked as an engineer in the city. He had decided to construct a sewer drainage system in order to protect the city water supply from contamination. He had created a group of street cleaners that were eventually nicknamed "White Wings" due to their white uniform. Him and his crew had become icons. He had come up with the idea of households dividing their waste into three bins: ash, food waste, and other sorts of garbage. After his passing, the number of automobiles multiplied, causing huge smog problems that led to "Black Monday." From backyard incinerators to tons of trash thrown in the ocean, we have not yet found a solution. In some ways I think we need another William Strong.
