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The crisis of a solid-waste landfill eventually rising to
140 feet over the Merrimack River brings the problem of waste management to our attention. To meet the needs of 13% of the
state's population right now, we risk the environmental health of our region by contemplating a landfill along an active river.
With their likely eventual leakage and emission of methane gases, lined landfills contribute to environmental degradation
and greenhouse gases. Solid-waste dumps are an unsustainable practice. The State of New Hampshire has declared waste-to-energy
generation through incineration an option preferable to landfills, but the release of toxins, particularly heavy metals, in
the incineration process continues to pose health risks and environmental problems. It is clear that new approaches to garbage
disposal must be combined with intensifying our commitment to reducing products entering the waste stream, recycling appropriate
products, and re-using components in new ways. The benefits of large-scale composting are attractive as well, particularly
as citizens come to see the alternative as a giant landfill along the Merrimack River.
Ultimately, we will see the
Oxbow Initiative as successful to the extent that we change attitudes about our consumption. A new way of disposing of garbage,
through mindful consumption and discarding of only worthless items, will yield practices and results that we will be proud
to pass on to our children and grandchildren. Coming together to oppose this landfill on the Merrimack is the first step
to change our attitudes about the solid waste that we create.
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