Solid waste and garbage management has been an important part of history ever since people began to establish permanent settlements.
Take a trip though history to discover how curbside waste and recycling service was established, as well as the evolution of many of the items we use today! (dates excerpted from www.astc.org)
| • 1710 | Colonists in Virginia commonly bury their trash. Holes are filled with building debris, broken glass or ceramic objects, oyster shells, and animal bones. |
| • 1776 | The first metal recycling in America occurs when patriots in New York City melt down a statue of King George III and make into bullets. |
| • 1800 | Pigs loose in the city streets throughout the country eat garbage and leave their own wastes behind. |
| • 1800 | Visitors describe New York City as a "nasal disaster, where some streets smell like bad eggs dissolved in ammonia" |
| • 1834 | Charleston, West Virginia, enacts a law protecting vultures from hunters. The birds help eat the city's garbage. |
• 1860 | American newspapers are now printed on paper made from wood pulp fibers rather than rags. |
| • 1866 | New York City's Metropolitan Board of Health declares war on garbage, forbidding the "throwing of dead animals, garbage or ashes into the streets." |
| • 1869 | The first commercial plastic, called celluloid, was developed by an entrepreneurial maker of novelty items. He had answered an ad placed by the supplier of billiard balls offering a reward for developing a suitable replacement material for the elephant ivory used to make the balls. |
| • 1872 | New York City stops dumping its garbage into the East River. |
| • 1885 | The nation's first garbage incinerator is built in the New York Harbor. |
| • 1894 | Citizens in Virginia are disgusted by the sight of barge loads of garbage flowing down the river from Washington D.C. They take to sinking the barges upriver from their community. |
| • 1897 | The first recycling center is established in New York City. |
| • 1898 | Colonel George Waring organizes the country's first rubbish sorting plant for recycling. |
| • 1900 | Small and medium sized towns build piggeries, where swine are fed fresh or cooked garbage. One expert estimates that 75 pigs can eat one ton of refuse per day. |
| • 1904 | Montgomery Ward mails out 3 million catalogues weighing four pounds each. |
| • 1904 | Postmaster authorizes permit mail. This means that with a single fee, 3rd or 4th class mail can be posted without stamps. This opens the door for direct mail advertising and mass solicitations. |
| • 1907 | An unexpectedly thick run of toilet paper is converted to become the first paper towels. |
| • 1912 | Cellophane is invented by a Swiss Chemist, which encourages the use of plastic packaging. |
| • 1914 | W.K. Kellogg invents a wax paper wrapper for Corn Flakes boxes. |
| • 1920 | During this decade, filling wetlands near cities with garbage, ash, and dirt becomes a popular disposal method. |
| • 1930 | Polyvinyl chloride is patented. It is used as a replacement for rubber. Another plastic, polystyrene, is produced by Dow Chemical Company. |
| • 1935 | The first aluminum can is produced by Kreuger's Cream Ale. Sales increase by 550% because customers loved the convenience. |
| • 1939 | Wisconsin Select beer is sold in no deposit, no return bottles, to compete with the recent introduction of beer in no return cans. |
| • 1944 | Styrofoam is invented by Dow Chemical Co. |
| • 1948 | Fresh Kills landfill is opened in Staten Island, New York. It later becomes the world's largest dump. |
| • 1950 | The growth of convenience foods (frozen, canned, dried, boxed, etc.) increases the amounts and types of packaging thrown away. |
| • 1958 | The Bic Crystal Company introduces the throwaway pen. |
| • 1960 | Bread is sold bagged in polyethylene rather than wrapped in waxed paper. |
| • 1965 | The Federal Government realizes that garbage has become a major problem and enacts the Solid Waste Disposal Act. This calls for the nation to find better ways of dealing with trash. |
| • 1968 | The aluminum industry begins recycling discarded aluminum. |
| • 1970 | The Federal Clean Air Act is enacted, leading to closing down incinerators. |
| • 1970 | Millions of people rally nationwide on April 22 for the first Earth Day. |
| • 1971 | Oregon passes the nation's first bottle bill, offering cash for aluminum, glass, and plastic containers. |
| • 1974 | The first city-wide use of curbside recycling bins occurs in Missouri for collecting newspapers. |
| • 1977 | Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) soda bottles are introduced to replace glass bottles. |
| • 1979 | EPA issues landfill criteria that prohibits open dumping, requiring all dumps to be "sanitary landfills". |
| • 1986 | Rhode Island becomes the first state to pass mandatory recycling laws. |
| • 1987 | The Mobro, a Long Island garbage barge, in search of a place to dump its load, is turned away by six states and three countries. The garbage is finally incinerated in Brooklyn. |
| • 1988 | The Plastic Bottle Institute develops a material-identification code system for plastic bottle manufactures (#1-#7). |
| • 1989 | Assembly Bill 939 was passed in California. Jurisdictions are required to meet diversion goals of 25% by 1995 and 50% by the year 2000. |
| • 1990 | McDonald's announces plans to stop the use of Styrofoam packaging of its food due the consumer protests. |
| • 2005 | The local landfill is closed to burying waste, and is operated as a transfer station. All waste generated in Sonoma County is hauled out of county. |
| • 2008 | Waste characterization study reveals Sonoma County has a 64% diversion rate. |
| • 2011 | Sonoma County Landfill reopens to limited amounts of waste. |
