A landfill in Portugal, images taken by Tim van Nus.

Waste is something that most of us don’t really think about. It smells, it is a place where disease breeds, and it’s hideous to look at. Can you really blame us for wanting to *ahem* sweep it under the rug?

Despite of our natural revulsion to trash and rotting things, it’s a huge land pollution problem that exists. We can sequester it into a specific area, but looming piles of rotting trash flitter in the wind with carrion eaters happily making their way about the feasting grounds.

Unit 9 consists of two parts: waste management and urban ecosystems. This part of the unit covers waste management. Urban ecosystems will be covered in the next lesson.

In this lesson the objective is to learn about what waste management is, how it works, the pros and cons of our current methods, and think sustainably. While you review this lecture ask yourself: