The Problems Of Waste And Waste Management

In “Waste Not, Want Not” written by Bill McKibben, different topics were brought to the discussion and categorized as waste. There are many harmful kinds of waste McKibben identified to be dangerous: moreover, the topics I am going to discuss effect severe negative global warming impacts on earth. The kinds of waste Mckibben identifies that I think are most harmful are carbon monoxide waste, forest waste, and government waste.

The biggest source of waste is paper, every time a letter is opened, the envelope is thrown away, and when printing goes wrong the paper is thrown away. Ink cartridges from printers and photocopiers are thrown away when empty, as are multiple pens when they run out of ink.

Group Thesis Statement: The alarming effects of consumer waste that pollutes the land, water and air will continue to rise and negatively impact numerous ecosystems on Earth if every human being doesn’t utilize the reduce, recycle, and recycle concept.

Waste is unwanted material that needs to be disposed of. It may include materials leftover from manufacturing procedure or from households. They can be discarded straightaway or can be treated by recycling. It can comprise a wide range of materials like papers, cards, plastic, glass, metals, textiles, used needles, body parts, food waste, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, radioactive materials, and medical devices.

1) Are you aware of the amount of waste you create each day? I do not believe anyone is completely aware of the amount of waste they generate on a daily basis. It is such a natural action – throw something in the trash – that it is automatic and done without much or any consideration as to where it goes, where it came from, or where will it ultimately go or become. I do recycle and compost when possible, but that too becomes a process that sometime appears moot because products are being made from materials that do not qualify or require special centers for recycling.1 We have become a “use it and throw it away” society.

We have become a very wasteful society where it seems as if everything is disposable; as a society, we need to be conscious of just how much waste we produce and what we are able to do to reduce that amount to protect our environment.

America disposes millions of dollars in unsold and out of date food yearly. In fact, four billion tons of food is produced annually, and on average $165 billion of that is wasted (Frasz). Between grocery stores, restaurants, and personal households this total can add up rapidly. Society frequently complains about the unemployed, sick, and poor not having ends meet. However, Americans often contradict themselves by allowing this process of waste to continue daily. These wasted products could be beneficial in numerous ways. For example, donating to charity, food banks, or farmers for animal feed and compost are just a few ideas we could consider other than just throwing our leftovers out. Other countries, such as France are finally starting to counteract against this worldwide situation and the United States should follow in line. America should be implementing techniques to solve this excessive waste problem before the issue becomes out hand.

The American people can be easily swayed into buying whatever they are told, and throwing away anything it replaces. This fatal flaw in society is proved by Vance Packard in his book “The Waste Makers”. He tells how corporations tricked the American public into living a wasteful life where they use something once and throw it away. A concept that had previously been unconceivable, but now was the way of living. He also proves how people had succumbed to buying things for convenience alone and nothing more. These companies did anything in their power to trick the consumer and improve their profit margins. Sometimes to their own dismay they would over sell their products and hurt themselves. Then immediately trick the public into believing another lie. Packard’s findings on the wastefulness of the American economy is irrefutable and unequivocal.

Garbage is the number one export produced by the United States of America. This is the “dirty love affair” reflected upon in the book Garbology by Edward Humes. The average American annually generates the waste of 35 billion plastic bottles, 4.5 million tons of office paper, and 40 billion plastic utensils (Humes, 2012, p. 16). All of these examples can be recycled, but mostly are not. This leads to every American, “standing atop more than 35 tons of waste a year” leaving a “lifetime legacy of 2,700 tons” of trash (Humes, 2012, p. 10). Garbage is produced when individuals consume an item then discard the remains that are no longer useful or desired. It takes energy to recycle and reuse items. It is easier and uses less resources to just toss

Waste is any substance or material that no longer serves a specific purpose, and is therefore disposed of after its first use. It is currently a significant issue for Australia; Australia is currently one of the highest waste producing countries in the world, and has recently been ranked in the top five waste producing nations. Australia as a whole produces over 18 million tonnes of waste per year, equivalent to three million garbage trucks full of compacted rubbish. This is likely to have resulted from an increase in Australia’s overall population.

Hazardous waste is the worst type of waste when there is no way to treat it (Lerner). If someone doesn't treat waste it won’t be as good to dispose of it if it were treated waste. Extra extra, “Human activities create a continuous waste stream” (Lerner). There are so many people on the world that we could make up our own stream of waste. “Even though some of these landfills have been closed down, they may still stand like ticking time bombs” (Lerner). The way landfill waste goes through the landfill some way it might get stuck and cause a reaction and blow up the landfill and go all over. Majority of the waste produced in the U.S. is from companies like chemical, metal, and mining companies (Lerner). There are tons of people on earth and millions of people in the U.S., but it is pretty sad when more of the waste is produced from factories than the humans that do more. We can reduce the amount of waste we make by eliminating factories that we don't need or use in the

Almost all waste is pollution. Plastic, glass, paper, tin, you name it. Pollution is something that negatively impacts our biosphere. That is all the portions of Earth that contain life. When you light that cigarette, you are polluting the air. When you leave that empty Pepsi bottle by the beach, you are polluting the water. Not just the water in that area. All water is connected. You are messing with the whole Hydrosphere at that point.

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

A.O. Coaker ,C.G.Achi, M.K.C. Sridhor, C.J.Donnett(2015) studied the current institutional solid waste management in a Nigerian private institution of higher learning. Using key informant as interview and personal field observations, the waste generation rate, pattern and characterization was made. It was concluded that if all the organic waste streams from the kitchens ,canteens and animal house are utilized for the bioenergy and organic fertilizer and non-biodegradables can be sold in the secondary market and considerable amount of wealth can be recovered

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.