Solution to the Earth's trash/waste...

[AnujTech]

Probably been thought before, but why not just throw all the trash in the world (especially nuclear waste) into the sun. It will heat up and disintegrate before it gets anywhere close to the sun, anyway.

I really can't think of a counter-argument, probably because I love the idea so much.

/AnujTech, Go ahead and refute it.. I dare you!

 

[rgwalt]

Here is the problem... rockets fail. Furthermore, according to Murphy's Law, the rocket carrying the toxic and radioactive waste will fail at the worst possible time, blanketing the world in fall-out.

Ryan

 

[Nemesis77]

<< I really can't think of a counter-argument, probably because I love the idea so much. >>



Do you have any idea how much it costs to get 1 kilogram in to orbit, let alone hurl it to sun?! Any idea how much it would cost to manufacture those rockets that would get that stuff to sun?

Well, if we got Superman taking thrash to the sun 24x7, it might work...

 

[Nefrodite]

we'd have to invent some insane energy producing method and somehow use it to boost massive amounts.. very very unlikly plus, the worlds resources are limited, best not to throw away even our garbage

 

[HamSupLo]

can't they use ballons to float that stuff out of the atmosphere?

 

[Nemesis77]

<< can't they use ballons to float that stuff out of the atmosphere? >>

 

[Mitzi]

Sounds like a good solution, but as Nemesis77 said, cost is the prohibiting factor. How many rockets would need to fly to the sun EACH day to get rid of the whole of the earths waste? My guess is a fair few!

 

[Phunktion]

Hey I got an idea.. why don't we just recycle!

 

[JohnCU]

Build a huge pipeline from here to Mars, and then just fill Mars up w/ our trash.

 

[AnujTech]

Well, I was figuring if all the nations pitched in, it would lower substantially. And I am not talking about throwing McDonald's wrappers away to the sun, I am talking harmful to environment/humans nuclear waste. Stuff that would make sense to spend money on to throw out and not undergroup.

Responses to that?

/AnujTech, recycling would work, except no one does it except for me and that guy over there...

 

[Nemesis77]

<< Well, I was figuring if all the nations pitched in, it would lower substantially. And I am not talking about throwing McDonald's wrappers away to the sun, I am talking harmful to environment/humans nuclear waste. Stuff that would make sense to spend money on to throw out and not undergroup.

Responses to that? >>



You load a rocket full of radioactive waste. Then, something goes wrong and that rocket explodes in the atmosphere, spreading radioactive waste to half the globe.

Ooops!

 

[flavio]

I don't understand problem with people recycling sometimes. I used to work at an office that had bottle/cans recycling bin around the corner from our work area. A couple feet further there was a trash can. Many people would actually walk a little farther so they could get their cans in the trash and NOT recycle.

It's like they were anti-recycling or something.


In theory the sun idea is ok, But I have to agree that it would be far too expensive.

 

[kami]

Space dumping won't occur until we find a cheaper method of getting ourselves into space. Doesn't it cost something like $10,000 to get 1 pound of matter out of earth's atmosphere?

 

[Skyclad1uhm1]

<<

<< Well, I was figuring if all the nations pitched in, it would lower substantially. And I am not talking about throwing McDonald's wrappers away to the sun, I am talking harmful to environment/humans nuclear waste. Stuff that would make sense to spend money on to throw out and not undergroup.

Responses to that? >>



You load a rocket full of radioactive waste. Then, something goes wrong and that rocket explodes in the atmosphere, spreading radioactive waste to half the globe.

Ooops! >>



*mumbles something about doing it over France*

 

[Nemesis77]

<< You load a rocket full of radioactive waste. Then, something goes wrong and that rocket explodes in the atmosphere, spreading radioactive waste to half the globe.

Ooops! >>



*mumbles something about doing it over France*[/i] >>



It would take rest of Europe with it. Besides, it could propably happen near USA. Many rockets are launched from USA. Another important location for space-missions is Kourou in South-America.

 

[spaceman]

burn it!! burn it all!!

 

[amok]

At least he hasn't tried to bring up the old em rail gun built through a mountain thing yet. That was always a favorite a decade or so ago with the "launch our toxic waste into the sun" crowd. I believe NASA even did a feasability study on the idea.

 

[Hayabusa Rider]

Consider this. Suppose you an area of geologic stability and encapsulate the really nasty stuff in ceramic and stuff the low level waste in barrels and bury it. No, not like a dog buries a bone

but in a mine in a stable area, or dig your own facility there. Now let's compare that to rocket/railgun. Assuming unlimited energy and resources, and ignoring any inherent environmental effects that that would cause, rockets lose for one very important reason. MTBF. Yep the hardware guys know what I mean. Could something happen to the buried waste to cause its release? Of course. Now how you ask yourself as an engineer, how often does the geologic record suggest that happens at your site? Let's say once in 500,000 years or even a million years. Now compare that to rocket failure. Remember Challenger? BOOM! Ok so you improve the failure rate by 1000, which is impossible by any imaginable technology. So we say that we have one Challenger event every 30,000 years. Still not good enough. That is why no one is taking the idea seriously, not because it's stupid, but because of the real world risk vs. benefit. Remember in 100k years, whatever creature has man's place here on earth could use its technology to get rid of the problem for good.

 

[Hammer]

What about dumping it in the ocean? It's not like we drink it or anything.

 

[MrBond]

<< What about dumping it in the ocean? It's not like we drink it or anything. >>

Actually we do. Ever hear of desallinization (sp?)?

 

[Hammer]

LOL. I was just kidding.

EDIT: I've noticed that no matter how outlandish a comment you make in ATOT, there will always be a few people that believe you.

 

[StageLeft]

<< I really can't think of a counter-argument, probably because I love the idea so much. >>

I assume you're kidding, and I can't be bothered to read rest of the thread, but making a rocket for small amounts of garbage and launching it at the sun is just silly.

 

[StageLeft]

<< LOL. I was just kidding.

EDIT: I've noticed that no matter how outlandish a comment you make in ATOT, there will always be a few people that believe you. >>

Yes, this ties in loosely with the skoorb effect BTW I like to eat baby fetuses for breakfast.

 

[jpsj82]

<< What about dumping it in the ocean? It's not like we drink it or anything. >>

Yeah, this is a good idea, oh wait, no it isn't.

We might not live in the ocean, but whales and fish and many other animals do. They could die. Ok, so you are the type of person that doesn't care about marine life, well have you ever gone to a seafood restaurant and ate seafood from the ocean? Well if we did this you could never do that again. Ok, so you don't care if you never have seafood again, but what about the thousands of Americans and other people who relie on the fishing industry for a life style, are we just going to screw them too.

I don't think so.

 

[rahvin]

<<We might not live in the ocean, but whales and fish and many other animals do. They could die. Ok, so you are the type of person that doesn't care about marine life, well have you ever gone to a seafood restaurant and ate seafood from the ocean? Well if we did this you could never do that again. Ok, so you don't care if you never have seafood again, but what about the thousands of Americans and other people who relie on the fishing industry for a life style, are we just going to screw them too.>>

Neglecting of course the fact that he was kidding. The UK dumped high level nuclear waste sealed in large concrete blocks into the ocean (north sea if I'm not mistaken) for years.