Wasteland Analysis

In the article Wasteland written by Frederick Kaufman, Kaufman recounts and analyzes his search for the truth about where our waste goes once we forget about it and how it eventually circles back to us. Kaufman uses immense imagery towards the beginning of this article to explain just how grotesque the problem of our overflowing waste is. Before reading this article I had not had much knowledge on the problem of our waste. I knew there was some problem with it but I hadn't realized the magnitude of the problem. After hearing Kaufman's firsthand accounts of scenes he experienced while on his search for the truth, I now realize how much of a problem we really do have. I was especially intrigued by Kaufman’s accounts towards the end of the article when he was talking about his experiences with the CEO of Synargo. Kaufman seemed to know exactly what the problem was with this waste company even before he started talking to the CEO; the real question that Kaufman seemed to have was whether or not the CEO could own up to the problems and if he had any plans to fix them. Being a business major myself, I completely understand where the CEO of Synargo was coming from in terms of finding the most cost efficient way to dispose of waste and recycle it into a useful product. However, I do not agree with building cost efficient business models at the expense of our environment. This was a very interesting article I thought and as for the writer’s technique and voice, I thought it was wonderful. One particular spot where his description was very good was when he was describing the building where he was meeting the CEO of Synargo. Kaufman spent a large amount of time in creating a vivid picture of the meeting place in order help the reader understand the façade that this company had of being a proactive, environmentally friendly corporation. Overall, I thought this was a very well written article about a topic that all people in the world need to be more aware of.