BIODEGRADABLE SUBSTANCES Biodegradable matter is generally organic materials such as plant and animal matter and other substances originating from living organisms, or artificial materials that are similar enough to plant and animal matter to be put to use by microorganisms. Some microorganisms have a naturally occurring, microbial catabolic diversity to degrade, transform or accumulate a huge range of compounds including hydrocarbons (e.g. oil), polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), pharmaceutical substances, radionuclides and metals. Major methodological breakthroughs in microbial biodegradation have enabled detailed genomic, metagenomic, proteomic, bio-informatic and other high-throughput analyses of …show more content…
These substances do not undergo rotting or take a very long time for rotting. For example, polythene bags, plastics, glass, aluminum, iron nails and DDT. Due to their decomposition problem, it is very difficult to get rid of these non-biodegradable substances. Their burning causes lots of pollution. Quite often stray animals eat these substances and die. Sometimes these non-biodegradable substances could be harmful for our health.
Non-biodegradable material is inorganic or man-made matter that will not decompose. Any material that is non-biodegradable does not decay or breakdown into simpler forms of matter.
This means that when disposed of by us, nature cannot reuse these materials to fuel the cycle of life and it will remain as pollution in the environment. It also means, all the resources and energy used to make the material in the first place, are trapped within the waste. Because nature cannot breakdown the material; the matter and energy cannot be reclaimed and reused by the environment to generate more organic matter and energy.
Relying on non-biodegradable materials and ingredients is an unsustainable and polluting practice. It traps resources and energy that cannot be re-claimed in materials that cannot be broken down. Resulting in masses of polluting substances and rubbish that cannot every truly be digested by the planet.
Fortunately we are able to recycle some
Food waste is an environmental, economic, and ethical problem that can lead to less calorie intake and unnecessary damage of our assets. Individual behavior can redesign food waste at home and lead to bigger changes in the ecosystem. The problem is Americans throw out more food than glass, paper, and plastic. Also about 25% of food grown, processed, and transported in the US will never be consumed. When food is disposed in a landfill it rots and becomes a significant source of methane— a potent greenhouse gas with 21 times the global warming potential of carbon dioxide.
Although some people are not aware of this problem, generating food is quite expensive, because it wastes energy, fresh water and natural resources during its growth, package and delivering. Furthermore, some scientists have found that decomposing uneaten food produces high levels of methane emissions. The world's population is growing extremely fast. As a result, if humans keep on wasting food at the same pace as today, the waste of generating food will increase proportionally, (Kruszelnicki, 2012).
In fact, they would like to keep disposable products just the way they are produced because they believe that the bigger issue is that people are not properly disposing the disposable products. Not only this, but they also assume that if we do go about banning products that are not high in biodegradability, the cost of biodegradable products will ultimately cost the American consumer more money than what it costs
Looking at the Impacts of Food Waste, In general by wasting food that’s mean we are wasting our money but in different way. . At the same time it is impacting us financially it’s also playing a huge role in the problems we see happening to our environment. The US Environment Protection Agency said, “Generating food waste has significant economic as well as environmental consequences. Whether you’re an individual, family, or business, chances are a considerable portion of your budget goes towards buying food — either for you, your family, or your customers. And since we now throw away more food than anything else, that means we are throwing away a lot of our money.” (“Basics,” par. 2) They went on to say that wasting food does more than impact our economy; it also impacts our environmental severely. We need to look at other countries and see what they’re doing with their food waste mistakes and do them same in our country the
Food waste has an immense negative effect on our economy and even our environment. Our environment is taking a hit from all the extra greenhouse
Bioremediation is the process in which microorganisms such as bacteria, yeasts, molds, and filamentous fungi are introduced into the spills. The introduction of these microorganisms assists in altering and metabolizing various chemical compounds present in oil. When the microorganisms metabolize these certain compounds it significantly reduces the time it takes for the oil biodegradation to occur.
Consequently, take a gander at what an Earth would look like with recycling. There would be less Greenhouse gases from the production of new materials. People could have visit an even greater amount of wildlife now that their habitats’ destruction is slowed. They might even gain some back and their habitats could expand! If every person just recycled one can of pop or tea every day, we could save the energy equivalent of 80,000 barrels of oil and reduce the harmful greenhouse
Recycling is when you convert waste into reusable material. This is like when you drink, or eat something out of a can. That can after you put it in the recycling bin, soon will be brought
If we keep on this path of not caring if we waste food we will have a serious problem because we will have a serious food shortage, and because of the wasted water
On April 20, 2010 the Macondo Blowout, the largest accidental oil spill in the GoM and the second largest in the world, released an estimated 4.9 million barrels of crude oil (Atlas and Hazen 2011). This significant ecological perturbation of the sea and coastal region has led to negative impacts in local fishing, aquaculture and tourism (National Health Environmental Effects Research Laboratory (US) Gulf Ecology Division 1999; Yanez-Arancibia and Day 2004; Arreguin-Sanchez et al. 2004; Ritchie and Keller 2008). Since the occurrence of the oil spill, most studies used molecular approaches including NextGen sequencing technology to assess the diversity and metabolism of complex microbial communities in oil-contaminated environments, particularly samples collected from off-shore locations surrounding the Macondo Blowout (Evans et al. 2004; Bordenave et al. 2007; Cappello et al. 2007; Liang et al. 2007; dos Santos et al. 2011;
Many things that all biodegradable and up in landfills the things that take years to decompose. Such as plastic, glass, metals! etc. This problem can be solved by me, with help, using $1000. When people throw away certain things, they don't know that many of those items are organic matter that can be decomposed. When you gather these organic and biodegradable items into a band, they decompose. This is called composting. The mixture inside the bin is called compost.this compost can be used as fertilizer and can help condition land. Things like fresh grass clippings, flowers, vegetable and fruit feelings such as potatoes and orange peelings, vegetable crop residue such as potatoes and tomato plants, herbivore manure, such as horse, cow, and rabbit,
Sub-point A: With plastic being everywhere, everytime it gets thrown away or washed down, the toxic pollutants enter the environment and do harm. Trash dumps and landfills are also major problems as they allow pollutants to affect the land and water. It sends chemicals everywhere to harm the environment. The landfills are taking too much space and releases greenhouse gas, methane. It is 25 more times potent than carbon dioxide.
The article also states, “achieving this would require a 20 to 50 percent reduction in consumer food waste” (BioCycle). As the article shows not only is reducing food waste important to the environment but it will also save money. As the article continues, Dr. Richard Swannell stated, “The difficulty is often is knowing where to start and how to make the biggest economic and environmental savings” (BioCycle).
There are billions of people struggling every day to have enough to eat, and billions of tons of food being tossed in the garbage, food waste is gaining increasing awareness as a serious environmental and economic issue. Research shows that about 60 million metric tons of food is wasted a year in the United States, with an estimated value of $162 billion. About 32 million tons of it end up in landfills, at a cost of about $1.5 billion a year to local government this economic crisis is worldwide! My research estimates that a third of all the food produced in the world is never consumed, and the total cost of that food waste could be as high as $400 billion a year. The food discarded by retailers and consumers in the most developed countries would be more than enough to feed all of the world’s hungry people, but it is not just those countries that have problems with food waste, it is also an issue in African countries like South Africa. The problem is expected to grow worse as the world’s population increases, unless actions are taken to reduce the waste. Food waste is not only a social cost, but it contributes to growing environmental problems like global warming, experts say, with the production of food consuming vast quantities of water, fertilizer and land. The fuel that is burned to process, refrigerate and transport it also adds to the environmental cost. Most food waste is thrown away in landfills, where it decomposes and emits methane, a potent
With the combination of polymers that don’t biodegrade and mass overproduction, companies are harming the environment in severe ways. Plastic, a material seen everywhere, is a polymer made from oil. It is mass produced to make everything from shampoo bottles to automobiles and does not biodegrade. When it is eventually thrown out, the waste usually finds it way into the ocean, where it is either buried under sediment or eaten by marine life (Weisman 287-295). Creating a material that will ultimately kill marine life will undoubtedly wreak havoc on the