SOLVING THE WORLD'S GARBAGE PROBLEM....WITH VOLCANOES!

Post by **aTOMiC** » Fri Dec 11, 2009 5:56 pm

Okay consider this. Imagine millions of tons of trash and waste filling the world's land fills. Then imagine molten magma found in all active volcanoes. Then imagine the two of them together. Sounds like a match made in heaven right? I agree.
My first notion, which was by far the coolest, was to send the world's garbage hurtling into the Sun. I know. Great idea but kind of hard to pull off. I figured that there wasn't much that intense and immutable heat couldn't fix so of course there's nothing quite like our Sun at providing the highest possible temperatures available. But the Sun is pretty far away so that kind of eliminates it as a problem solver in this scenario. So I thought what would be the next best thing? What's readily available that produces heat so intense that virtually anything would be consumed by it, even the dreaded plastic water bottles everyone hates. Viola!!! LAVA and lots of it.

Here's the plan. We dump virtually everything lying around that would be considered trash/rubbish/garbage into the active volcano of your choice. I dare any piece of plastic, metal or toxic sludge to resist temperatures ranging between 1,300 and 2,400 degrees.

Is that a beautiful plan or what? So simple yet so utterly effective.

I'm sure someone will probably point out that vaporizing trash in this manner will probably send gouts of toxic gas into the atmosphere. Party poopers!

Post by **dANdeLION** » Fri Dec 11, 2009 6:02 pm

Great idea. Even better than the stereo hat idea.

Post by **aliantha** » Fri Dec 11, 2009 6:47 pm

Well, and another reason why we couldn't send our trash hurtling into the sun is because of the chance that it would get caught in orbit and slingshotted back out and end up in our past.

Post by **Sorus** » Fri Dec 11, 2009 8:24 pm

aliantha wrote:Well, and another reason why we couldn't send our trash hurtling into the sun is because of the chance that it would get caught in orbit and slingshotted back out and end up in our past.

It's a bad movie just waiting to happen.

Post by **wayfriend** » Fri Dec 11, 2009 8:32 pm

... Sort of a cross between Dante's Peak and Sanford and Son.

Post by **Cagliostro** » Fri Dec 11, 2009 8:43 pm

I'm still waiting for someone to make a joke about aTOMic waste.

Post by **aliantha** » Fri Dec 11, 2009 9:30 pm

I think you just did, Cag.

Post by **matrixman** » Sat Dec 12, 2009 2:47 am

Sorus wrote:
aliantha wrote:Well, and another reason why we couldn't send our trash hurtling into the sun is because of the chance that it would get caught in orbit and slingshotted back out and end up in our past.
It's a bad movie just waiting to happen.

It already happened...although in that instance, Superman was sending all the world's nuclear weapons hurtling into the sun. But all that movie ever did was make me want to hurl.

Post by **High Lord Tolkien** » Sat Dec 12, 2009 3:26 am

"The International Society for Volcano Preservation" will fight this trash idea with all their might.

Post by **sgt.null** » Sat Dec 12, 2009 3:54 am

a BRILLIANT idea.

Post by **aliantha** » Sat Dec 12, 2009 8:18 pm

matrixman wrote:
Sorus wrote:
aliantha wrote:Well, and another reason why we couldn't send our trash hurtling into the sun is because of the chance that it would get caught in orbit and slingshotted back out and end up in our past.
It's a bad movie just waiting to happen.
It already happened...although in that instance, Superman was sending all the world's nuclear weapons hurtling into the sun. But all that movie ever did was make me want to hurl.

Forgot about that one. I was thinking of the Star Trek movie where they went back to San Francisco. "Everybody remember where we parked!"

Post by **matrixman** » Sat Dec 12, 2009 8:42 pm

Yeah, I recognized the plotline, ali...I was responding to Sorus's post.

After all, Star Trek IV was a good movie.

Post by **aliantha** » Sat Dec 12, 2009 9:04 pm

Yes, yes it was.

Post by **wayfriend** » Sat Dec 12, 2009 11:10 pm

In Brin's Uplift trilogy, people dump their waste into a fault line where the continental drift will cause it to sink down into the mantle in a few million years.

I think the theory is to put your trash where it will get pulled down into the earth, not in (say) a volcano, where it will be spewed back out.

Post by **Prebe** » Sun Dec 20, 2009 3:31 pm

How about torching everything combustible in huge furnaces and using the energy for heating and electricity? That's what we do around here anyway

But for non-combustible stuff, I could see it work, if you won't rather recycle.....

Post by **Orlion** » Sun Dec 20, 2009 6:03 pm

I think some scientist created a machine that ionizes any form of trash and uses the energy released as electricity... but noooo, we have to invest in wind and solar power.

Post by **Prebe** » Sun Dec 20, 2009 7:12 pm

I've always been amazed that the idiotically simple idea of burning household waste for energy hasn't caught on more.

But perhaps there's some logistical thing that I'm missing.

Post by **I'm Murrin** » Sun Dec 20, 2009 7:16 pm

Probably things like the costs involved in cleaning up the waste products produced by the burning. You're not getting rid of the waste, you're just turning it into a different kind of waste that still has to be dealth with.

Post by **Prebe** » Sun Dec 20, 2009 7:24 pm

You are both right and wrong. Actually organic matter is mainly turned into CO2 and water. Depending on the quality of the waste, this is by far the largest part of it. The remainder (the slag) can be stockpiled using MUCH less room. Furthermore it can be used for building material (roads, etc.). And last: the slag can be stockpiled under MUCH more sanitary conditions.

Also, it is not a future scenario. We have been doing it in many european countries for AGES. And I am positive they are in Japan as well.

Edit: you have quite a few facilities yourself

Kevin's Watch

Kevin's Watch

SOLVING THE WORLD'S GARBAGE PROBLEM....WITH VOLCANOES!

SOLVING THE WORLD'S GARBAGE PROBLEM....WITH VOLCANOES!