Botkin Environmental Science Earth as Living Planet 8th txtbk

550 CHAPTER 23 Materials Management
12. Do you think we should collect household waste
and burn it in special incinerators to make electrical
energy? What problems and what advantages do
you see for this method, compared with other wastemanagement
options?
13. Should companies that dumped hazardous waste
years ago, when the problem was not understood or
recognized, be held liable today for health problems
to which their dumping may have contributed?
14. Suppose you found that the home you had been living
in for 15 years was atop a buried waste-disposal site.
What would you do? What kinds of studies should be
done to evaluate potential problems?
FURTHER READING
Allenby, B.R., Industrial Ecology: Policy Framework and
Implementation (Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall,
1999). A primer on industrial ecology.
Ashley, S., It’s not easy being green. Scientific American, April
2002, pp. 32–34. A look at the economics of developing
biodegradable products and a little of the chemistry involved.
Brookins, D.G., Mineral and Energy Resources (Columbus,
Ohio: Charles E. Merrill, 1990). A good summary of mineral
resources.
Kesler, S.F., Mineral Resources, Economics and the
Environment (Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1994).
A good book about mineral resources.
Kreith, F. ed., Handbook of Solid Waste Management (New
York: McGraw-Hill, 1994). Thorough coverage of municipal
waste management, including waste characteristics, federal and
state legislation, source reduction, recycling, and landfilling.
Watts, R.J., Hazardous Wastes (New York: John Wiley, 1998).
A to Z of hazardous wastes.