The state of Connecticut is working tirelessly to cut back on trash production and buildup in its landfills.
One of the methods used to maintain a relatively eco-friendly, clean environment for Connecticut citizens is diversion, or the transportation of excess garbage to neighboring states. One of these states happens to be the Granite State itself, New Hampshire.
Diversion is not a horrible method for attempting to tame the rampant supply of unsustainable plastic and trash that builds up in our country each passing day, especially when Connecticut has instilled multiple methods to divert compostable and perishable goods from their landfills first, before any trash is even considered to be shipped over state lines.
According to a New Hampshire Public Radio (NHPR) article written by Ryan Caron King, “Katie Dykes, commissioner of the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, said the pilots were effective at reducing the amount of trash going to landfills and incinerators. Reducing food waste is also important for climate goals, with rotting food generating methane, a potent greenhouse gas.”
However, while diversion is great at keeping Connecticut eco-friendly and clean, the state of N.H. is not as equipped to handle these shipments of garbage as it should be. With numbers as high as “42% or 900,000 tons” of trash being diverted out of the state, we need more bills passed to combat this rising number, with additional climate-focused goals that, at the very least, are akin to those of the state sending over the garbage in the first place.
Yet the N.H. Senate continues to kill bills proposing expansions and other helpful methods for the state’s landfills. Multiple propositions have been shot down before even having a chance to leave the ground, including House Bill 1632. According to another NHPR article by Daniela Allee, “One proposal, House Bill 1632, would have prevented newly permitted solid waste facilities from accepting more than 15% of their waste from out of state. It was approved by a unanimous voice vote in the House Committee on Environment and Agriculture and on the House floor, Rochefort said, but died in the Senate.”
This bill was just one of many that proposed solutions to the rising tide of non-renewable and non-compostable trash being directed into the state. Time and time again the people of N.H and the Committee of Environment and Agriculture have had to watch as the Senate waves away viable answers to our landfill crisis only to offer up no further alternatives.
It is clear that with the amount of garbage produced in the state alone mingled with the excess being sent from Connecticut’s overflow, change needs to be made possible, not just for the cleanliness of the state counties and neighborhoods, but also for the protection of the environment adversely affected by excess pollution and trash overflow.
Kara Montagano can be contacted at
kmontagano@kscequinox.com
