No Beautiful Trash
April 14, 2010

We love ugly.

The New York Times recently highlighted artful incinerators turning garbage to green energy (such as the incinerator above), a varied and either newly constructed or retrofitted lot that stand in stark contrast to ugly non-renewal-based plants across America.

For Denmark and other eco-minded countries building or retrofitting these plants to burn trash as alternative to higher levels of fuel consumption, aesthetic building design has weighed heavily into the process, and designs range from one made almost entirely out of glass, to another in Vienna that is a kaleidoscope art piece of black and grey boxes, disco ball-shininess and curved ceilings.

Yet American cities won’t catch a glimpse of similar designs anytime soon. According to the article, Matt Hale—director of the Office of Resource Conservation and Recovery of the EPA—has claimed opposition due to “relative abundance of cheap landfills in a large country, opposition from state officials who feared the plants could undercut recycling programs and a “negative public perception.”

Not only are we lazy, we also can’t construct anything that doesn’t resemble a nuclear monstrosity—such as Michigan City’s notorious generating station—because America really just loves ugly?

Criticism of many other forms of alternative energy production is justified —such as the noise pollution that wind turbines introduce to formerly quiet communities. But it seems most ridiculous to never admit that the effort of a country like Denmark—that recycles over 46% of trash production—is truly quite admirable.

Photo Credit: Dugspr / Creative Commons