An Island Made of Trash

The sad reality is that we all, whether we try to or not, generate waste. The dilemma, of course, is what to do with it. Now, some people have unconventional strategies: Art. While others have downright unacceptable ones: Backyard Trash Burning. But for the rest of us that are neither creative nor destructive, the majority of our trash (that is hopefully not recyclable or compostable) ends up in landfills or is incinerated. These landfills - I happen to live not too far from one - are sore on the eyes, smell awful, and often times because money is politics, collect trash from hundreds of miles away. But because society needs a place to put its trash (no it doesn’t just disappear) landfills are somewhat of a necessity until we find better alternatives. Though we could of course, and have the capacity to, make many more things compostable and recyclable. In the meantime, an interesting alternative is turning a landfill into a nature preserve!

Semakau is a landfill off the coast of Singapore that in 2005 became a nature preserve and community-gathering place. It was engineered to keep waste confined to the island and away from the water, has a built-in leachate treatment plant, and is home to over 700 types of plants and animals as well as several endangered species. Don’t get me wrong; I am not promoting the formation of hundreds of “trash islands” but I do believe this to be an environmentally conscious approach to trash that, well, already exists. Not to mention, it attracts many visitors and in the process, I imagine, raises their awareness about environmental responsibilities.

This government initiative cost SG$610 million and took ten years to complete. It is believed that Phase I of this project will meet Singapore’s waste disposal needs until at least 2045, at which time Phase II would be optional. Furthermore, Singapore has challenged itself to increase their recycling rate to 70% by 2030 and is working towards zero landfilling. Given the size of Singapore, roughly 3.5 times that of D.C., it makes sense that they are going to such lengths.

I believe this example can be replicated under the appropriate conditions. Singapore appears to have taken all the necessary steps, and time, to insure it would not be an environmental disaster, though I can imagine some countries would not. However, this sort of innovation and government action gives me great hope as to what we are truly capable of inventing, in an environmentally friendly way, to solve our needs.