Hard Times, Less Trash

I remember reading not too long ago that shoe repairmen are seeing a surge in business since the onset of the recession -- that people who once gave no thought at all to tossing slightly used shoes now take them to the local cobbler to have soles and heels replaced.

The EPA says Americans discarded 7 million tons of clothing and footwear in 2007, but with the souring of the economy came news that we were finally heeding the environmentalists' mantra to reduce, reuse, recycle and repair.

The Washington Post reported that landfill managers knew something was amiss in the economy when trash levels began dropping last year.

"The trash man is the first one to know about a recession because we see it first," said Richard S. Weber, manager of the Loudoun County, Va., landfill. "Circuit City's closing, so people aren't going there and buying those big boxes of stuff and throwing away all the Styrofoam and shrink wrap...and whatever they were replacing."

And we must have been replacing a boatload, as Americans tossed 254 million tons of unwanted stuff last year.

Now, says the Post, some landfills are reporting declines as sharp as 30 percent.