Cincinnati loves it's garbage: (Rumpke is the local trash company.)
Quote:
COLERAIN TWP. - At the top of Mount Rumpke, faces were glued to the windows of three buses, peering out at the American flag sticking out of a landfill that rises more than 1,000 feet above sea level.
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It was an odd place to be on a foggy Saturday morning, where the undeniable smell of garbage wafted through an almost scenic view of Cincinnati.
It was there that busloads of people would learn how and where the contents of their trash cans ultimately find a home. More than 100 people had RSVP'd to be at Rumpke's Day of Discovery, which ran from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Bus tours led the curious from the bottom of the landfill to the top, learning along the way that in the sea of trash included the burial ground for a 14-year-old circus elephant and the world's largest Hershey's chocolate bar.
"I don't know. Why are people so interested in garbage?" said Wanda Davis, of Colerain Township. "I guess I just thought it'd be interesting to find out."
Davis and her husband live about two miles from the landfill, which spans about 800 acres on Struble Road, off of Colerain Avenue. On some days, when the wind blew the right way, they would catch hints of the odor, perhaps just enough to keep their curiosity alive.
"It gives you a new perspective when you put that garbage can out," said Gene Land, of Hamilton.
Land made it family trip to the Rumpke landfill, bringing along his daughter, Sarah Williams, and two grandsons. It's important, he said, for the 8-year-old twin boys to learn what happens to the things they put out on the curb.
"Hopefully, it'll raise awareness on recycling," Williams said. "This place is huge."
Many on the bus shook their heads when the tour guide told them 900 trucks bring in up to 10,000 tons of trash a day, a rate that means the landfill has another 13 years left before it reaches its current limit.
"You drive by and see all this and you really don't have a clue as to what goes on," Davis said.
Aside from bus tours, the day also included informative booths and children's games and prizes. It was a free event that was held once several years ago. Rumpke officials hope to turn it into an annual event, said spokeswoman Amanda Pratt.
