Conservation From Recession

By Choi Yearn-hong

Inside the economic crisis, I see something good and valuable. That is the conservation campaign of our precious resources. Affluence is generating more waste and the destruction of our resources.

In a sense, affluence is the source of waste and destruction. In the good old days, we didn't waste our resources. Even human waste was recycled for fertilizer after proper treatment under the sun.

The United States has been blamed as the most wasteful nation because it has been wasting resources while carrying out very little recycling. South Korea is no exception: the more affluent a society, the more wasteful a society.

In the United States ― which typically puts 254 million tons of unwanted refuse at the curb to be thrown away each year ― landfill managers say they knew something was amiss in the economy when they saw trash levels start steadily dropping last year.

Now, some are reporting declines as sharp as 30 percent. I see something nice in the economic decline. I am sorry about the economics, but I am cheered for the environmentalists.

With a drop in demand, manufacturers make less, creating less waste. A more vacant housing market means less construction debris. On tight budgets, people eat out less, so restaurants order less, so there is less to throw away.

Landscapers are out of work, so there is less yard debris. Food and other consumer goods are wasted less and manufactured goods are recycled more.

Affluence made American people buy new cars every five years. Now, they are driving their old cars for seven or more years. Their furniture is remodeled, rather than dumped. So upholstery is doing good business.

It seems no surprise to economists that during recessions, consumers ― whose spending drives 70 percent of the U.S. economy ― choose to repair their stuff instead of throw it away.

I will sketch the wasteful U.S. society in this space for Korean people to awaken from their own wasteful tendencies.

From 1960 to 2007, the amount of stuff that Americans threw away nearly doubled from 2.7 pounds a person daily to 4.6, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

In 2007, the EPA said that Americans produced 254.1 million tons of household trash. That total was made up of, by weight:

― Paper and cardboard (packaging): 32.7 percent.

― Yard trimmings: 12.8 percent.

― Food scraps: 12.5 percent.

― Plastics: 12.1 percent.

― Metals: 8.2 percent.

― Rubber, leather and textiles: 7.6 percent.

― Wood: 5.6 percent.

― Glass: 5.3 percent.

― Other: 3.2 percent.

About 63.3 million tons of trash was recycled; 21.7 million composted; 31.9 million burned. The remainder ― 137.2 million tons ― ended up in landfill.

The United States is not a nation Korea can environmentally imitate. However, Korea is not innocent in the environmental protection and nature conservation stakes.

Korea shamefully adopted a wasteful society amid and after its miraculous economic development. Food waste is the most shameful. Also, many decent furniture items have been dumped in Seoul and other major cities.

Authorities have been trying to find value from the waste, and to recycle 100 percent. But there is a limit. The Korean people should consider their country's small landmass and large population, nearly 50 million people.

This economic calamity may offer one good lesson to the American and Korean people. These times may represent an opportunity out of a crisis.

Louis Johnston, an economist at the College of St. Benedict in Minnesota, combed through Commerce Department data and found that during recessions, people tend to spend 5 percent of their household budget on repairs.

In good times, repair spending falls to below 1 percent. I see something valuable in the midst of the current recession, and I hope all people in affluent societies share this view.

During my sojourn at the Pentagon from 1981-83, I proposed electric power generation from burning solid waste generated from federal government agencies in the Washington metropolitan area. The federal agencies generated tons of solid waste everyday.

I computed the valuable energy resources from their waste. The Pentagon was and is operating a self-sufficient small power plant. My proposal was published in an academic journal, Environmental Management. Recession requires ideas and thoughts to overcome the energy crisis.

Dr. Choi is a retired college professor after a long teaching career in the United States and Korea. He has been and is an environmentalist. His most recent book in the field of environmental policy is ``South Korea's Environmental Policy and Management" published by Shinkwang Publishing Co. in Seoul in 2008. He can be reached at yearnhchoi@gmail.com.