Landfilling is the least sustainable method of managing waste. The practice reduces reuse and recycling, buries valuable materials, causes the release of harmful toxics into the air and water, and creates a financial and environmental liability for future generations. The hidden costs of landfilling untreated municipal solid and similar wastes are exponential.
In 2004, Ashley set off on an epic project to document the impacts of climate change and the use of renewable energy on every continent, the only living photographer to have done so. This incredible journey took him fourteen years to complete.
“These striking and powerful images remind us what’s at stake on the planet we’ve got and the duty we all have to preserve it.” Bill McKibbon, founder 350.org
Through study missions, person-to-person briefings, testimony at public hearings, and the preparation of articles for the legislator and policymaker, IeRM can bring to bear the scientific facts concerning the environmental harm and financial costs of landfills and what to do instead.
This research-analysis is designed to identify and quantify the true costs of landfilling so that informed decisions can be made using an apples-to-apples comparisons of solid waste disposal.
Our economy depends on buying and selling products. In oder to have the least environmental impact a number of factors need to be considered and the buyer needs to know how sustainable a product is that he is about to purchase and how, at the end of its useful life, can it be reintegrated into the economy instead of finding its way into the next landfill.
