Essay On Landfills

In Mantua Township, Gloucester County, New Jersey, privately owned land once stood as one of the most hazardous waste sites in the United States. This site known as the Helen Kramer Landfill included 66-acres of waste, 11 acres of unfavorably conditioned vegetation, and no onsite residents. Prior to the early 1960’s, Helen Keller landfill was a sand and gravel excavation operation, but soon began to incorporate the disposal of waste material for about a decade. After the landfill received numerous inspections and notices between 1971 and 1977, the owner Helen Kramer was informed to cease operation of the landfill. As New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection reports indicated and area residents stated, “sporadic chemical

Serving as the number one source of our plastic use, companies opt for plastic containers because it's easy, feasible, and convenient. Food packaging alone makes up for 30-40% of landfills with much of that plastic being carried into the oceans. Going off of this, a new concept that's quickly becoming popular are package free grocery stores. These cost- effective grocery stores have everything you could possible need in bulk form and consumers bring glass or reusable containers, or cloth bags and fill them with the food they need. First popping up in cities like Berlin, Vienna, and Barcelona, many are finding this a more sustainable and eco-friendly option resulting in these sort of grocery stores quickly spreading across the ocean, with the first one in the United States expected to open in Brooklyn, New York. Business operators are extremely optimistic that this could serve a very impactful solution to getting rid of unnecessary plastic. (Che Jenny).

The author proves the falsehood of the long known assumption that plastic is a threat to our planet. By citing the research done by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the author convinces his readers that not only are plastic bags not harmful as people think, but also beneficial. This surprises his audience and shows them how exaggerated the cries of environmentalists, which gets the readers wondering what else have they falsely believed in and what other information are paper-bags advocates hiding from them, and that pulls them into the argument and intrigues them further. Additionally, Summers lists the harmful consequences of using reusable bags by presenting research results and observations. This alarms the audience and raises concern in their

Each year there is an increase in demands for plastic bags, and therefore more are shipped, creating further environmental pollution concerns. This increase in demand has lead to the phenomenal upsurge in the use and misuse of plastic bags globally, both in developed and developing countries. Statistics show that 4 to 5 trillion plastic bags are produced per annum, whereby North America and Western Europe account for nearly 80% (Geographical, 2005; Reusable Bags, 2005). Cheeseman (2007) states that approximately “380 billion plastic shopping bags are used in the United States annually”; in turn, only 0.6% of this is recycled.

Background: Trash continues to increase, as the world continues to last. Easy disposable products such as water bottles and soda cans has led to increasing amount of pollution around the world.

This initiative allows for an additional recycling option to consumers. In Kipperberg and Larson’s study on preferences for community recycling programs (2012), communities that offer more recycling options are more favourable (p.581 – 583). Therefore, this recycling collection program will help consumers’ disposal initiatives and will reduce the possibility of LEGO bricks contributing to plastic pollution. Ultimately, consumers will feel more confident about their act of sustainability through this recycling solution.

Australians approximately use 6.9 billion plastic bags per year (Errata Nolan ITU, 2002). The high consumption of plastic bags highlights one outstanding issue. The adverse impact, consumption and disposal of plastic bags have towards the environment. This involves the resources used to make

One of the most prominent issues in the American society is not an economic or social problem, but the lack of recycling in America and the effect it is having on the environment and the people. This lack of recycling can be found in businesses and schools across America who could benefit from some sort of recycling program installed. The benefits of a well placed and organized recycling program can be endless from scholarships to the benefits it can have on the environment by saving trees and reducing the space need to dispose all the trash. South Caldwell High School is one of these schools across the country that is at a loss because of its lack of a recycling program and many other schools and businesses in Caldwell county are not reaping

According to an article on Huffington Post, The total amount of plastic pollution in the world's ocean is about 130 million metric tons. It is thought that each year the oceans are gaining 5 to 13 million tons of plastic pollution. If this estimation rings true within 10 years there will be 250 million tons. That would be the equivalent to there being 1 pound of plastic to every 3 pounds of fish, according to the Ocean Conservancy. However it is thought to be good news that The science paper found that there are just five countries that are responsible for over half of the plastic pollution. These countries include China, the Philippines, Indonesia, Vietnam, and Sri Lanka.

Background: Trash continues to increase, as the world continues to last. Easy disposable products such as water bottles and soda cans has led to increasing amount of pollution around the world.

As the United States deals with the overwhelming amounts of waste building up, Nitin et al explain that “plastics take anywhere from 15 to 1000 years to biodegrade” once they are discarded (Nitin). Changes in recycling methods can no longer keep up with the exorbitant amount of waste produced in the United States. This is why some states choose to take their initiative one step further by placing either fees or a ban on the use of plastic bags. Due to the enormous waste the United States produces on a daily basis and the negative outcomes of this trash including adverse health effects, harmful impacts on nature, and the exponential piling of trash in landfills, the US government should ban plastic bags.

Plastic bags can be recycled and reused, it is only a matter of updating machinery to do so. Plastic bag fees will hurt people who are struggling financially, as well as cost retailers more money to buy alternatives. The final reason presented is that plastic bag alternatives are even worse than the effect plastic bags have on the environment. To really improve the environment, we, as a society, should work harder to reduce our waste and to recycle more. Although this topic is widely debated, plastic bags should not have a fee or

The overuse of plastics in today's society has become major environmental issue for our oceans. Plastic pollution is the dumping, littering, or disposing of any type of man-made plastic that has been produced and has ended up in our ocean and has not been recycled.

As the world’s population slowly increases, the need to recycle becomes more evident to safeguard the future of the environment for future generations. With Australia using 3.92 billion single use plastic bags each year of which 50 million ending up in Australia’s litter system, green-minded Australians have started using the green reusable shopping bags (Plastic as a Resource, 2015). Although some people switched over to using the green bags, there is evidence that suggest they are not as environmentally friendly as some people might think. This report will investigate triple bottom line sustainability, materials and provide a recommendation for future shopping bags.

Five hundred billion used globally and one hundred billion of them end up in U.S. landfills, taking about one thousand years to decompose, but only 5.2 percent were recycled (Borrud, 2007, p.75).-These are the figures plastic bags have produced every year. Human beings invented plastic bags for the convenience of carriers and packers. However, just as other great inventions, say, nuclear energy and biotechnology, plastic bags are causing serious issues like global warming, environment pollution and energy consumption. They are gradually becoming sword towards ourselves. In responding to this problem, the city of San Francisco has become the trail blazer to prohibit non-biodegradable plastic bags in its large supermarkets and pharmacies.