Remember the old trash compactors? You shoved in as much garbage as possible, compressed it and added some more. Neat, tidy bundles of waste, prepared for dumping, dense and inert. Lot’s of energy goes into packing, but once they are imbedded in the ground, how useful are they? Clearly some material can be recycled. But how do we begin the sorting process? How much information that we impart to kids today will be useful to them and society in the future? Are we helping them sort the trash or just cramming in more?