LANDFILLS
Each year, the average American throws away almost 1 million pounds of material. To put this in another way, Americans throw away enough garbage to fill 63,000 garbage trucks. In 2012, researchers found that people in America threw away 239 million tons of waste. Americans only represent 5% of the world’s population, but generate 30% of the world’s garbage. The amount of waste Americans consume is much greater than any other country in the world. However, the increase of trash is due to population growth and consumerism.
There are many negative issues associated with landfills. When organic material is breaking down in landfills, it releases methane, a highly flammable greenhouse gas. The release of greenhouse gases from landfills into the atmosphere has a huge impact on climate change and global warming. The gases and chemicals in landfills can significantly impact the air quality. Aside from the gases created by landfills, dust can make its way into the atmosphere, affecting the air we breathe in. Also, many materials that end up as waste contain toxic materials. Over time, these toxins will leak into the ground, contaminating our soil and groundwater. Landfill fires are another problem. The amount of waste and gasses in a landfill can easily start a fire. The fires are difficult to extinguish and can pollute the air and water. If these fires are not controlled quickly, they can destroy nearby habitats.
As you can see, landfills are an environmental problem. I chose this article to show that they do not only affect the environment, but the people too. People living near landfills suffer from lung and heart diseases from the toxic gasses that are released from the landfill degradation. Drinking contaminated water and planting crops in polluted soil can easily affect someone’s health. The landfills are just going to increase because of our rapidly growing population. We can’t do anything about that, but we can control how much waste goes into landfills. The first thing to do is recycle. Many materials going to landfills are made of plastic, paper, cardboard, aluminum, and glass which are all recyclable. Recycling saves landfill space, reduces the rate of global warming, and improves air and water quality. Recycling is the way to go! Reduce, reuse, and recycle!
Source:http://greenliving.lovetoknow.com/Environmental_Problems:_Landfills
Article by Jared Skye
Source 2:http://www.wegreen-usa.org/landfill-problems.html
There are many negative issues associated with landfills. When organic material is breaking down in landfills, it releases methane, a highly flammable greenhouse gas. The release of greenhouse gases from landfills into the atmosphere has a huge impact on climate change and global warming. The gases and chemicals in landfills can significantly impact the air quality. Aside from the gases created by landfills, dust can make its way into the atmosphere, affecting the air we breathe in. Also, many materials that end up as waste contain toxic materials. Over time, these toxins will leak into the ground, contaminating our soil and groundwater. Landfill fires are another problem. The amount of waste and gasses in a landfill can easily start a fire. The fires are difficult to extinguish and can pollute the air and water. If these fires are not controlled quickly, they can destroy nearby habitats.
As you can see, landfills are an environmental problem. I chose this article to show that they do not only affect the environment, but the people too. People living near landfills suffer from lung and heart diseases from the toxic gasses that are released from the landfill degradation. Drinking contaminated water and planting crops in polluted soil can easily affect someone’s health. The landfills are just going to increase because of our rapidly growing population. We can’t do anything about that, but we can control how much waste goes into landfills. The first thing to do is recycle. Many materials going to landfills are made of plastic, paper, cardboard, aluminum, and glass which are all recyclable. Recycling saves landfill space, reduces the rate of global warming, and improves air and water quality. Recycling is the way to go! Reduce, reuse, and recycle!
Source:http://greenliving.lovetoknow.com/Environmental_Problems:_Landfills
Article by Jared Skye
Source 2:http://www.wegreen-usa.org/landfill-problems.html