April 10, 2006
Update 7: Litterbugs
Riding the Launcha has been quite an experience. People are in every nook and
cranny of this boat, but we are getting along well. We have seen behavior on
the Launcha that we are having trouble adapting to. Most people throw trash,
or basura (bas-OO-rah), out of the windows, or ventanas (ben-TAN-ahs),
and into the river. The trash not only looks and smells unpleasant, it is unsafe
for the fish and other animals in the rivers- not to mention the people. Aquatic
wildlife can mistake the trash for food and choke. Chemicals from the toxic
trash, such as batteries and oil containers, can kill off living things in the
water. It is very difficult for us to watch this preventable pollution in the
wilderness, but how do we stop it?
To complicate things further, we are producing lots of waste that we do not
want to sink in the river. Should we:
Burn it?
Bury it?
or Bring it along?
Some people feel, "dilution is the solution." They believe that since
the Amazon is so huge, there is plenty of fresh water to carry away the fouled
water. But what about everyone downstream?
On the contrary, some people think that "there is no such thing as waste,
just resources in the wrong place." Ideally we could compost the majority
of our waste to be reused for the creation of more life. But plastic and metal
are hard to recycle, food scraps start to stink, and we need more space! Please
help us decide what to do with our trash. In the meantime, we will be careful
to buy biodegradable packages and we will carry our waste until we get a better
plan from you.
Keep it clean,
Patrick
We think you should bring along the non-biodegradable objects. We also think you should bury the biodegradable objects.
Posted by: ahrens at April 10, 2006 08:01 AM
I think you should bury the food, and cary around the recyclable items.
Posted by: Ms. Dalleska at April 10, 2006 08:38 AM
We were divided on how to address the garbage situation. We felt you should definitely bring the garbage with you and not throw it in the river. The majority of our class felt the garbage should then be buried when you reach a campsite.
Posted by: Toulouse at April 10, 2006 10:45 AM
I think that you should bury it because if you burn it, it might smell very bad in the air. I think if you carry it with you it might be to much to carry. So I think that your best bet would be to bury it but make sure it's deep enough or when the high water season comes it might wipe away all the dirt and it will be in the river.
Posted by: Cegelski at April 10, 2006 12:48 PM
you should burn it because it'll turn to ashes and then bury it.
Posted by: cegielski at April 10, 2006 01:10 PM
Miss sherwin's class in Cincinnati thinks that you should bring your garbage along with you. We discussed the fact that this could get heavy and smelly, however, we think that this is the best alternative and we voted on it as a class. We also considered the option of burning the garbage, but we thought that this might pollute the air.
Posted by: sherwin at April 10, 2006 02:17 PM
I think that you should bury the food, instead of carrying it around.
Posted by: Mrs. Dalleska at April 10, 2006 02:31 PM
I think you should burn it.
Posted by: Mrs. Dalleska at April 10, 2006 02:38 PM
The garbage I think you should bring back to Chicago to throw away and recycle. So the animals don't eat the garbage thrown in the water take a day of collecting the garbage. The left over food you should feed to the animals that can eat what you have left over. Also, please try not to buy too much food that you have a ton of left overs that you can't finish.
Posted by: Mrs. Dalleska at April 10, 2006 02:40 PM
You should bury the trash and keep your recyclables until you find a place to put them.
Posted by: Mrs. Dalleska at April 10, 2006 02:42 PM
From Herbie: I think you should burn the trash because the ashes would be rich in nutrients and help plants grow.
From Alyse and Alexandra: You should reuse your items but if they take up too much space you should burn them.
Posted by: Ms. Seno at April 10, 2006 08:52 PM
I think you should try hard to buy biodegradeable foods and packages. Then the items that need to be disposed of or recycled can be carried along until you reach a market to dispose of or recycle them. Or if you reach a campsite, try burning it and burying the ashes.
Posted by: Osmani at April 11, 2006 08:33 AM
I think that you should bury all of the things that are not recyclable and keep all of the items that are recyclable until you get to a camp where you can recycle the items.
Posted by: Osmani at April 11, 2006 08:34 AM
My opinion is...
i think that you should seperate the trash. recyclables-compost
you should recycle the recyclables, and bury the compost, because then the compost can decompose, and the recylables and be recyled and made into something else!
HAVE FUN!!!!
Posted by: Mrs. Osmani at April 11, 2006 08:42 AM
I would burn it, because if you bring it along, it will get heavy to carry with the other stuff and you will not have enough room to put other stuff that you found on the trail, and if you bury it, animals will get to it, and might get caught in it or get cut if the trash has sharp areas on it.
Posted by: Joey Petzoldt at April 11, 2006 09:23 AM
I think you should burn it if the fumes won't hurt the enviorment or bring it along with you until you can dispose of the garbage.
Posted by: Mrs. Jilek at April 11, 2006 09:48 AM
I think that you should either burn it or bury it. You should burn it if the garbage won't release any harmful chemicals in the air, but if it will, then you should bury the stuff that would decompose and take the rest with you.
Posted by: Mrs. Jilek at April 11, 2006 10:09 AM
Bring garbage bags to carry your garbage and find someone/somewhere to deposit yours (and that of others) garbage in an appropriate place.
Posted by: Mrs. Spohnholtz 4-15 at April 11, 2006 02:19 PM
We think that most of the materials can be buried. Although, some oils and poisons might need to be brought along to help save the wildlife. Maybe some materials might be burned first before they are buried.
Posted by: Mr. Blazek at April 11, 2006 02:53 PM
I think youn should burn it
Posted by: Mr.elder at April 12, 2006 11:08 AM
I think they should bury their trash.
Posted by: Mr.Elder at April 12, 2006 11:09 AM
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