Canadian Waste in Michigan
In 1986, a waste treaty between Canada and the U.S. was signed by American lawmakers concerning the Transboundary Movement of Hazardous Waste. Under the terms of this treaty, the EPA is to receive notification of these shipments, and then would have 30 days to consent or object to the shipment. Since 1986 Canada has shipped its garbage to Michigan to be dumped into landfills and the provisions of this treaty have never been enforced. But now is the time for them to be enforced and stop the importing of Canada's garbage.
As of January 1, 2003, the Canadian city of Toronto, Ontario started to ship one hundred percent of its garbage into the landfills of Michigan. In 2003, Toronto exported garbage at a
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Carleton Farms Landfill in Sumpter Township in southwest Wayne County, where the population is 11,856, receives one hundred percent of Toronto's garbage. Our laws that Michigan implies on our garbage do not imply on Toronto's garbage. Our laws prohibit us from discarding bottles and cans but allow Toronto and others from out of state to do it. Another problem with importing trash is the havoc it wreaks on our roads. Toronto does not pay so much as a nickel for repairing the roads that it destroys. The constant flow of trucks creates both noise and air pollution and also lowers property values. Although American lawmakers have decided to enforce the treaty from 1986, politicians in Lansing, Michigan and Washington still have not found a way to ban imported waste that doesn't violate the international treaty or does not unconstitutionally restrain trade.
Inspections of the garbage trucks, however, have been stepped-up since January 1, 2003. The Department of Environmental Quality conducts inspections at the border, which include radioactive detecting equipment, and follows the trucks to the dump to ensure proper disposal. Since September 2003 seven trucks have been turned back because equipment detected radioactive material in the waste. One truck, which was dripping blood, was found to be illegally taking medical waste to Carleton Farms Landfill. The Drug Enforcement Agency reported one of the largest drug busts in
Food waste is an issue that is present at Cornell College. By going into Bon Appetit, the issue becomes clear. Students are given more food than they can eat. To go boxes are not available for students who dine in, and most students do not bring reusable containers with them. Most do not think about how much food they waste. By going over to where we put out plates when we are finished, it is easy to see many students leave a good portion of their meals on the plate. Whether they did not like what they were eating or they were in a hurry and had to leave, big amounts of food are wasted during each meal of the day. Steps can be taken to decrease the overall amount of food that is wasted on campus. Ideas such as smaller plates, vermiculture, competitions, and others can be utilized in the efforts to decrease food waste on campus.
That's it. We're done. Once you've done an oil change a couple times, you will be
For centuries, Canada has been extracting and using all of the resources that we could at an increasingly shocking rate. Ever since the beginning, we have been seen as a resource-rich country, and with so much, it makes perfect sense that we are one of the most wasteful countries in the entire world. Our country extracts so much and much of that eventually ends up in landfills, in fact, Canada has one of the highest garbage rates and electricity consumption rates in the entire world.
To find out more about the illegal dumping that has occurred around the city I conducted interviews at Lone Star Disposal Center and Ralston Road Landfill, I was able to gather some information from both sources about a few of the hazards that can occur because of these spots, where I can find additional info and where a few of the hot spots are that illegal dumpers usually dump their
As a result of this growth, Ontario has struggled to manage the volume of green bin waste to the point where it is sometimes not technically even recycled anymore. According to Welsh, in 2008 York region and Guelph shipped their kitchen waste to an incinerator New York State because their own facilities had to close (2009, para. 12). This is a shocking finding and is clearly a step backwards for recycling initiatives in Canada.
any repercussions, more so with the fact that 68.9% of that 1% is frozen in the
Our more developed countries in the world expects basic human needs such as food and water, which we have plenty of; North America and Oceania produce the most food waste in the world (640 pounds of food person/year). We worry that in many years from now as the population keeps increasing we won't be able to produce enough food for the world's population, but, we have enough food. we need to appreciate our food and not waste our food. I feel strongly about the issue concerning our production of food waste because I was not born in Canada, I still have family from where I was originally from and not all people are fortunate with food and water like it is in Canada. Even in Canada's big cities we would see big restaurants wasting tons of food daily and people who are homeless on the streets of Canada.
In the early 1950’s, the reservation was introduced to industrialism after the construction of the St. Lawrence Seaway (Johansen 2011). Several companies sprung up around the reservation, the most notable of which was General Motors which was fed raw materials that aluminum and steel mills were digging up from the area. These plants had designated sites where they dumped all of their waste and after just a few years of operation, the toxins leaked out of the dump and into the environment (Johansen 2011). Without any government agency to regulate the waste, deadly toxins like polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) and insecticides seeped into just about every animal food chain in the area. In 1980, ten years after the creation of the EPA, a wildlife pathologist began examining the animals in the area. The current federal law for PCB in poultry is three parts per million; he found a snapping turtle with 3,067 parts per million of PCB in its body. PCB which is this concentrated in an animal is also six times the minimum concentration to consider it toxic waste (Johansen 2011). By 1990, the EPA got involved and released a Superfund cleanup plan which totaled $78 million (Johansen
Nuclear waste is a radioactive waste that is dangerous, and a fair percentage of people would agree on this topic. However, is it really dangerous or is it just harmful to an extent? In society, many debates are held over trying to prove to the world that this substance is harmful. In the essay, “Nuclear Waste,” Muller states clearly that he sides with the anti-nuke of the debate and how he pinpoints the facts of nuclear waste with great persuasion. Yet, it is uncertain whether Muller clearly has a good argument and/or answers the questions that many people linger to know.
“Waste” is a short essay in which Wendell Berry critically analyzes the growing epidemic of trash that is polluting the nation’s land, waterways, and the air. Berry explains to the readers how the remnants of floods and litter that leave farmlands scattered with trash, makes more work for the farmers who have to rid their land of the trash before they can use it. Along with the floods, roads and highways also lead to a barrage of garbage from people who are too lazy or ignorant to take proper care of their garbage, which Berry claims leads to “. . . a constant precipitation of cans, bottles, the plastic-ware containers of fast food joints, soiled plastic diapers, and sometimes whole bags of garbage,” (Waste 1) along the edges of their fields. The garbage of the country continues to be a burden for everyone, whether it impacts them directly or not. Although it would be impossible to eliminate garbage completely from the country, the waste could be greatly reduced. Most of today’s trash is a consequence of the laziness of American society.
Waste Management, Inc., incorporated in 1968, had become a leader in the industry of waste management services ranging from industrial operations to curbside collection. This company had become synonymous with many different kinds of disposal services that allowed for the company to grow and grow with a solid base over the course of twenty-eight years. Finally in 1996, the company reported total assets of almost $20 billion with net income close to $200 million. However, even with this growth and solid base, the company was feeling competitive pressures and net income was on the decline.
Food waste is a tremendous problem in the United States in which many people seek the solution for. Leftover food is thrown into trash cans and dumpsters by the tons. Not only is food waste a problem around the United States, but a problem on many college campuses. There are many students, professors, and campus organizations continuously studying and searching for the most effective way to reduce the amount of waste that students contribute to the overall waste statistics of the country. A simple and effective way to reduce food waste on campuses, specifically Concordia College, is making students aware of the topic of food waste, the sustainability of the food service facility, and how to improve their wasting habits.
The industrialization of Canada is severely affecting the nations lakes, streams, and rivers. If something is not done to improve the situation it is going to have some severe environmental problems in its future. The following essay will be looking at the factors that cause pollution, and the effect that pollution has on the environment of Canada. It will also explore some of the methods used to treat and clean-up wastewater, and oil spills.
A simple chore: “take out the trash”. Take the trash bag full of junk, place it in the bin, and let it sit till it's taken away. Now try to picture doing this with the junk in your brain, complicated huh? Reality is, you could never fit all the trash you have ever owned into one trash bag. Our brain is just the same, one trash bag will not fix the full garage of junk we have in our brain. The problem we face as humans are how we compare taking out the literal trash and mental trash. That single trash bag isn’t all the trash we have stored in our minds. The first bag of trash is only the light layer upon layers underneath. One thing that strikes my brain while visualizing trash being taken out is, we wait until it’s taken away! We are waiting for someone else to pick up our own garbage and take it. It takes years and hard work to empty your trash on a daily basis. In my personal experience, taking out the trash is no easy task.
Another driving force behind the improper disposal of hazardous waste was the Mafia. “Organized crime controlled the solid waste disposal industry through the major trade associations, the relevant Teamster locals, and the connivance of political cronies”(Block, 1985, p.102). The Mafia has the ability to buy public officials with ease. This and their scare tactics led many EPA officials to do nothing about the illegal activities that took place. “Imagine an EPA inspector or state regulatory agent trying to deal with firms controlled by the members of the most powerful crime syndicates in the country”(Block, 1985, p.103).