71 
materials entering the New York Bight, but we cannot anticipate 
possible synergestic effects between pollutants or between pol- 
lutants and the array of dissolved ocean salts. 
International aspects of ocean pollution have been mentioned 
elsewhere. One further point here, however, is the fact that with 
'this country responsible for one-half to one-third of the world's 
pollution input into the sea, we must be concerned about our moral 
and legal responsibilities to the international community. 
The broad institutional aspects of ocean pollution, indeed, 
all waste management problems, need to be given greater attention. 
The rapid rate at which we are depleting many valuable resources-- 
land, water, wood, soil nutrients, minerals, and fuels--requires a 
reversal of present attitudes and concepts about waste dispesal. 
Dumps do not occur in nature. They are a relatively new concept, 
substantially expanded in this Age of Technology, that condones 
indiscriminate disposal of materials that might be recycled, reused, 
or reclaimed in a variety of ways. For example, recycling of all 
paper would solve about 80 percent, by volume, of the country's 
trash disposal problem, place less strain on forest resources, and 
curtail need for critical electric power. 10/ In fact, we do not 
have a waste disposal problem; we have a waste use problem. Yet 
our economic, social, and political institutions tend to favor a 
disposal philosophy as opposed to one that would encourage reuse 
and recycling. 
With increased national and worldwide concerns for the total 
environment, along with increasing shortages of critical resources, 
there is bound to be a greater emphasis on developing the technol- 
ogy, eliminating institutional constraints, and creating more 
incentives for complete recycling or reuse of wastes. Present 
trends in marine disposal of sewage sludge and industrial sludges 
should ultimately reverse so that, for many wastes, ocean disposal 
could well be an interim operation that will begin to decline in 
the 1980's. 
It was noted on page4l that economic, social, legal, and 
political constraints may be the strongest deterrents to a cleaner 
New York Bight. The fact, of course, is that such institutional 
constraints stand as a barrier to effective environmental quality 
programs throughout the country. This fact is being recognized 
more and more. The ability to calculate the total costs of pol- 
lution and to assess these accurately and effectively at their 
source is perhaps one of our greatest institutional problems. 
10/ Environment, 12(2):8. 
48 
