Sunday, November 8, 2009

Why Producing too much Waste is bad for our Environment?


All of our garbage has to go somewhere ? Its called a landfill, where garbage is put then is covered up with dirt, this space is running out and there is as little as 2 and a half years left. All of this space being taken up by landfills can used for school, homes, farms, hospitals, buisnesses , ect. landfills are very unhealthy as well. Waste disposal costs have increased signifantly, it is a problem to dispose.
195 millions of tons of garbage are produced each year, therefore getting up to 1000 pounds of garbage per year for 1 person. 4.1 pounds of solid waste is produced by an average North American. Lots of this waste is produced by Schools, hospital, Buisnesses, and government agencies.

Solutions :

1. Reduce - Buy in Bulk ! Buying family sized containers actually saves on waste! For example, one large box of washing powder, which is made from easily recyclable, or compostable cardboard is better than individually plastic wrapped tablets. The same goes for breakfast cereal, the cardboard of which can go into your green bin. Organic yoghurt cartons are compostable, use fewer resources in their manufacture and create less waste than small plastic cartons. Avoid individually wrapped items. Good examples of individually wrapped products include drink cartons.
2. Reuse - Reusable plastic bags
One of the most important environmental initiatives introduced in the last number of years was the plastic bag levy. At the outset, the general belief was that people would find it difficult to bring their reusable shopping bags to the supermarket - but in the space of a year everyone has settled into a slightly different, but environmentally friendly lifestyle. This is one example of how reuse can save resources and cut down on waste.
Reusable bottles . Everyone buys 500ml soft drink bottles. They're handy and resealable. Unfortunately they are also environmentally costly to make and can last for hundreds of years in landfill. By refilling them with water or juice, and reuseing them, you are preventing the amount of waste you produce. You are avoiding buying another bottle of soft drink, there for, reducing the amount of resources you are using in addition to the amount of waste you are sending to landfill. Other reusables. Old clothes - turn them into rags or pass them on to charity shops
3. Recycle - Recycle everything you can, and whenever you can. Recyclable materials include many kinds of
glass, paper, metal, plastic, textiles, and electronics. Materials to be recycled are either brought to a collection center or picked up from the curbside, then sorted, cleaned, and reprocessed into new materials bound for manufacturing.

1 comment:

  1. Recycling is great, but even better is avoiding use in the first place, like choosing Stainless Steel Straw Reviews

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