In an effort to limit the amount of person-to-person contact, the state of New York has suspended compost, clothing, and electronics recycling because of Coronavirus. Trash collection and standard recycling (glass and plastic) will continue as normal.
But what if the virus was more infectious and led to the suspension of trash/recycling collection altogether?
This would lead to a society where everyone has to dispose of their own waste. Small, privatized waste collection would separate the wealthy from the lower class, creating a stark difference in living conditions between the two.
If the collection was truly impossible, a city like New York would soon be overflowing with trash. I’m thinking of Wall-E, but with the humans still living on the planet. This would be a world where limiting waste production would be highly valued.
The easiest way to get rid of the waste, in both scenarios, would be to burn it. This would create a world where small fires are the norm.
The story could be about a child who escapes from an out of control fire, similar to a bush fire. After the fire, they wake up in the hospital, under the care of a monk-type figure. Similar to Luke Skywalker when he lives with Yoda. Then, he leaves to go find out if his parents are still alive. The first book of the series could be his acclimation to his new world and his journey back to his old home. During the course of the story, he discovers the fire was set intentionally by someone who wanted the land he used to live on and at the end of the first book he finds out his parents didn’t survive. Maybe he finds a necklace/dog tag in a mass grave or among the ashes.
The second book could be a battle with the group who wanted the land, and in the third, he takes down the group and sets up a new society. The series could go on from there, discussing the navigation of the challenges presented by the resultant power vacuum. Maybe after the first three books, he grows into a position where he’s in charge then accidentally is responsible for a large fire, which creates the same story once more.
No way I could get away with making the dad still alive and in charge of the group who started the first fire, like Darth Vader. It would be too obvious.
Back to the news story. The programs New York suspended all required people to drop off the goods to be recycled at a facility, so by limiting them, the governor hopes to keep the amount of contact between people to a minimum. The services still available are the collection services.
