Issue 25 Trash for Cash March,4,2013

After two days of hard work I can finally write again. This time it is the concept of exchanging ones trash for cash.

Apparently in some countries a recycle program has been implemented where local residents trade in their recyclable goods for the equivalent of food stamps to shop at local shops. The idea itself though is not fiscally sound as the government running such a program needs to supplement the amount of money each person gets to make the program more sustainable and worth it for the individual to trade in that trash. In short, tax payers are still putting up a portion of the bill. However, it is a slightly less amount than required because those recycled goods are then sold to make up some of the money given away.

It is a nice idea. The concept of trading ones garbage for cash is not new unto itself, but has advantages of putting money into people’s pockets without the commission that some stores charge at the bottle return. I can imagine with 3D printers becoming more ubiquitous that metal and plastic recyclables will go up in price as demand for raw materials for the printers go up. I highly doubt many people will buy a digester for such material as it in my mind comes off as like owning a compost bin. They would probably prefer someone else doing the deed of cleaning the metal/plastic, sorting it, and ultimately turning it into something useful like 3D printer ink.

But organic waste has its value too. Organic waste has its own valuable metals and minerals that can be turned into fertilizer, separated for hydroponics farming, or turned into the vitamins you get over the counter. So there is a market for such goods, but government wastes it by putting it into dry landfills, the same landfills that can be turned into small electric power plants by allowing the material to biodegrade and harvest the natural gases emitted for fuel.

All trash has value, and it is up to the private sector and/or government to harvest that revenue source and profit. Though I hope they will make a model where they pay us to pick up our trash rather than the other way around.

Tomorrow, I give you the Ryan Plan. I have broken it into 3 parts that I hope are easy to understand and easier to read. The plan itself is over 99 pages, while my 3 parts total only 15. Hope you like and enjoy.