The "Where do we put our trash?" dilemma faced by U.S. states and Canadian provinces is a game where the outcome is always undesirable for someone. With Michigan freely opening its natural splendor for others to come take advantage of, the mitten state is taking in a lot of trash.
More than three million tons of solid waste were imported from Canada in 2003, about 15 percent of the total amount of solid waste that enters Michigan's landfills. Tack on another 10 percent from other states, and a solid quarter of what is being dumped here isn't even from Michigan residents.
No matter how ugly the topic of trash disposal is, there can be no denying that it has to go somewhere. It just seems puzzling why it has to be Michigan.
Toronto - which exports 100 percent of its waste to Michigan and is the state's largest contributor, takes the high road in disposal process. It passes along its problem - but you can't blame Toronto. Why would Canada pollute its own lands when Michigan is willing to take its trash?
To be fair, Michigan sends more than 600,000 tons of hazardous waste, which fits into a separate category than solid waste, to Canada each year. This is because Michigan lacks the proper disposal and incineration facilities here to handle such waste.
Michigan, as a state, has some interesting ironies. It is the motor capital of the country, but it has poor roads. It is one of the country's outdoor and wildlife draws, but has a great deal of landfills.
The source of this is primarily governmental. In 1978, Michigan enacted the Solid Waste Management Act, which allowed counties to plan their own waste management and created new landfill space across the state.
Now, politicians, such as Rep. Mike Rogers, R-Brighton, are struggling to reintroduce bills that would curb the flow of trash into Michigan. Rogers argues that the amount of landfill space left in the state is meager and continued dumping will result in a spillover of dumps being established closer to cities.
Landfill officials argue that this isn't the case, that Michigan has plenty of space left for trash when future landfill space is taken into account. But along those lines of reasoning, at some point almost everywhere is a potential landfill site.
Michigan legislators also suggest imposing a $7.50 dumping charge for each ton of waste dumped - the current rate is about 21 cents per ton. Legislators argue that this would have the effect of stemming trash flow into Michigan, which will hopefully be the case. If Michiganians aren't going to completely bar their state from being a dumping ground for others, they should at least assure it is being paid for. It is important to remember though, that the charge would apply equally to Michigan residents.
The bottom line here is that Michigan should not be any nation's landfill. On average, each American produces more than a ton of waste each year, according to a national garbage survey conducted by The Earth Institute at Columbia University. That is enough state-produced garbage to deal with.
