Our Earth simply cannot handle all of the trash we are giving it. Each person produces four pounds of trash per day, which is much faster than we can get rid of it, and space for it is vanishing quickly. Almost every community has some method of getting rid of trash, and whether incinerating or burying the trash, it still is a huge problem. Everybody has been negatively affected by the overpopulation of trash whether from an illness related to pollution (like asthma, or cancer) or a loss of land to a landfill.
The source of this terrible problem is traceable down to a few factors. Food is one of the biggest contributors at about $900 million wasted dollars being tossed each year (mostly due to misread expiration date labels). Some schools and institutions use non-reusable trays made out of polystyrene foam. About 250,000 of these trays are thrown out EVERY DAY and will sit untouched in landfills for centuries without biodegrading. Around fourteen million tons of plastic trash is thrown away each year. This plastic can include the plastic bags and cutlery everyone uses in their daily lives. Sometimes trash is accidentally (or purposely) introduced into ecosystems, which kills hundreds of animals each year.
Out of all the trash in the US, 55% (60% in the UK) is taken to a
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Grocery stores could charge for disposable bags, and companies could get “bonuses” for using recyclable packaging. Families could be charged for their garbage by weight. The fee would be added to normal taxes. The more the family recycles and composts, the lower their price. Families could also be paid for recycling. The more you recycle, the lower your taxes. People who balance it well should end up with a minor decrease in taxes. If all of this happened, we would dramatically slow our emissions. This would be only a step in the right direction, however, it’s a giant leap from our current position that will take many
States alone, 30% of all food is thrown away each year. That's about 161 billion dollars worth of
Recycling doesn’t affect people that much, but it does affect wildlife and animals. Like the six pack rings, soda comes in, fish get caught in it and they die. Another thing is plastic bags get thrown into the ocean and turtles mistake it for jellyfish, eat it and die. Would you believe me if I told you that glass, aluminum, paper and plastic are not A report from the Federal Highway Administration shows that 80 percent of the asphalt that is removed each year during widening and resurfacing is reused. Recycling has been around for thousands of years, but we still need to recycle even though people thought of this a long time ago. A consequence is the New York City Landfill. The New york city landfill contains 2.9 billion cubic feet of trash. The new york city landfill can be seen from space. The new york landfill is one of the only things that can be seen from space. Another consequence is that farmers in Wisconsin and Minnesota are just now starting to recycle. Minnesota and Wisconsin farms produce 60 million to 80 million pounds of plastic every year, but until now they had no way to get rid of it besides throwing
‘...now we are in a place more beautiful than creation.’ (p.202) At the end of ‘Trash’, Raphael, Gardo and Rat begin a new life. Describe the qualities of each character and how their friendship helped them overcome their hardships.
Much of this trash ends up in the ocean harming not only marine life, but us too. However, this is not only happening in America it’s happening all over the world with China at 8.82 million metric tons of mismanaged waste. All this waste if caught in a gyre, can lead to one of the garbage patches. This has been happening since we started using plastic but it the garbage patches were discovered in the early 1990’s. We keep throwing trash away that keeps being misplaced, then it ends up in the oceans with the rest of the trash. I propose multiple solutions, to enforce plastic bag ban and to enforce recycling. California has banned the use of plastic bags, meaning that if you do use them a fine will be put in place. Environment California explained how before the plastic bag ban California used up to 19 billion plastic bags each year with less than five percent being recycled. However, we can change that. By using less plastic bags we harm the ocean less. Another solution is to each week collect each household’s trash, per pound of trash found in the recycling bin provided by the city should be a $11 fine. Tiffany Edmonds, Solid Waste Management Department spokeswoman, explained why they started the fine “ It is an attempt to change behavior. The fine covers the cost of sending a garbage collection truck to the house to pick up the contaminated recycling bin” this will encourage people to recycle. Since the plastic
“We throw out about 254 million tons of solid waste per year in America alone” for comparison that is about 1.27 million average sized blue whales. That is a ton of trash! But, as Americans we do not see all this trash. We barely even touch it. It is all pretty much taken care of for us. So the trash is sort of out of sight out of mind. Let me put this into some
Imagine a world cluttered with trash, once beautiful beaches and parks now overflowing with garbage. Roads no longer driveable, air no longer clean. Masks will be worn, and disease is on the rise. Now, imagine if you could have prevented this. I believe recycling is the first step. As of 2006 America is in the lead for producing the most waste, producing 236 million tons annually. Not only are we producing the most waste but by 2100 scientists estimate the amount will triple which will have serious effects on the Earth. Both physical effects and fiscal which means public services and government budgets will be impacted. Our planet is already feeling the effects of pollution at the rate we're going we won't be able to stop the damage nor repair
People are constantly throwing trash outside their window when they are driving down the street or throwing trash on the ground when they are walking. As minor as littering is, there are long term effects. Trash that ends up in the storm drains, eventually make it’s way into the ocean. Once the trash is in the ocean, it can eventually make its way into a whales blowhole, or can be consumed by an animal; which could harm them. Also, trash that makes it’s way into lakes and oceans is very difficult to remove. If you cannot remove the trash, how are you going to prevent these animals from getting
The growth of consumption has caused a large increase in rubbish. This is due to people having more choice when out shopping. Many years ago women stayed at home and men went to work but now that both men and women are out earning there is a lot more disposable income which ends with people buying luxuries and upgrading items they already have. This results in the old ones being thrown away. People are constantly upgrading and renewing items to better models. Mobile phones bring out new models every year which people feel the need to buy to keep up with the trend and because they want the newest gadgets on the street. Pcs have changed to laptops which gives the pc no home except out to be collected on bin day. This causes a problem
Looking down the street you live on, do you notice something lacking? Well, for most of America this seems to ring true. Recycling is a process that is very important for the environment, yet much of the country still does not have mandatory recycling or, at the least, an easier way to recycle. No, most perfectly recyclable materials are sent straight to the landfill. Why exactly is this, anyway? Is it the government’s fault, or the people’s?
A recent study by Nature Climate Change shows this ongoing problem is caused by “224 million more pounds being thrown out than previously thought,” suggesting too much recyclable items are being thrown out: “For every 100 pounds of trash we throw away, 35 pounds is paper” and although about 80% of goods and materials can be recycled, only 32% are actually being reused (Powell, EPA, McKinney). As reported by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, “In 2013, Americans generated about 254 million tons of trash, and recycled and composted [only] 87 million tons of this material” (EPA). This again shows that a good amount of materials that can be recycled are more often being thrown into the trash. The EPA estimates that “we recycled and composted 1.51 pounds of our individual waste generation of 4.40 pounds per person per day ” in 2012 (EPA). That’s less than 30% of individually generated trash being
One of the main reasons why littering is a big issue is the effects trash causes to the environment. "The U.S. is the world leader in solid waste, producing 236 million tons of garbage in 2003." (Rea, K. 2005) "As an environmental problem, litter is a substantial
People litter in a number of areas across the Earth on land and water. The most popular areas for people to litter are roadways, transition points (entrances to businesses/buildings), loading docks, recreational areas, and construction sites (“Litter Prevention”, 13). Roadways are the most popular locations for litter, with 52% of motorists and 22.8% of pedestrians disposing of their trash along roads as they drive, walk, or bike (“Litter Prevention”, 15). United States roads and highways are littered with over 51 billion pieces of garbage each year, which equals about 6,729 items of trash per mile (“Litter Prevention”, 3). Transition points are the second most popular location for litter to build up. Wrappers and food make up 53.7% of the litter in these areas, and tobacco products make up 29.8% (“Litter Prevention”, 17). Before people enter businesses they choose to throw their trash on the ground instead of in the provided waste can, or the waste can is too full to hold trash, resulting in overflowing waste cans. Loading docks, recreational areas,
People tossing out trash means that they don’t care what happens to it as long as it’s out of their car or house. People should think of the impact they can cause the environment if they recycle properly, reusing water bottles, and when they go grocery shopping bring a reusable bags that won’t be thrown out into streams and lakes that will cause pollution to the environment. If someone throws garbage where it shouldn’t belong then throw it out for them to keep the environment clean.
There are some reasons for the problem. The first reason is that the effects of the thrown rubbish are very dangerous and extremely harmful. According to Miller (1987), global industrial organizations produce over 80,000 different chemicals (para. 5). Basically, garbage is old, dirty and wet, so that it is a perfect place for bacteria and other viruses to stay in. Rubbish growth in cities has been a problem all over the world for centuries. Landfills have always been regarded as sources of illnesses and unpleasant smells. The harmful wastes from the garbage spread through the ground from paint, chemicals, petrol, batteries, and other toxic materials that have been thrown away into the garbage. The toxic chemicals get into the water pipes and spread through the people’s drinking water. Another reason of that problem is that people have created all these disasters, which are connected with environmental pollution. The more modern technologies are created, the more unbelievable become wastes and remains of what is produced. From this, man is responsible for what he or she created and for the following consequences. Anxieties about the environment have made people more aware of their environmental footprints or the kind of waste they leave behind during their existence. The difficulty is that an average person leaves an incredible amount of wastes in his or her lifetime. According to Lovejoy (1912), all biodegradable substances, contained in
American citizens throw away millions of tons of garbage each year, and this trash has to go somewhere. While there are projects underway to clean and reuse this refuse most of it gets dumped into huge landfills. These landfills are disgusting festering blisters on our country's landscape. But people continue to consume and throw away more and more in the name of convenience. As they see it, when things get old, throw it away and get a new one. They blame the government for the trash problem, but the truth blame should be placed on themselves.