Wood In Landfills

Recycling one ton of paper saves seventeen mature trees, seven thousand gallons of water, three cubic yards of landfill space, and two barrels of oil (“Environmental Impacts”). It is much easier than most people think to make such a big difference. If every person took a few minutes to go through the trash being put in the garbage and recycle the things that can be, it could completely change the world. It is the peoples job to take care of the planet and everything on it, and if people are not willing to do the right thing on their own, then they should be forced to. Everyone should be required to recycle because it is good for the environment, helps the economy, and saves energy, space, and resources.

Emelle, Alabama not only holds one of the biggest commercial hazardous-waste landfill in America, but African-Americans make up 90% of the population of the town. A Choctaw Native American reservation in Philadelphia, Mississippi holds a 466-acre hazardous landfill (Wright 532). These statistics have revealed the sensitive boundary between racial and social classes. Specific human factors have driven the need for change in environmental practices, such as growing human population, increased natural resource consumption, and the effluent discharges of manufacturing. This situation has resulted in a significant negative impact on world ecosystems (Dietz, Ostrom, and Stern 1907). What ties both of these critical concerns

Landfills are filling up with more and more trash every day and are expanding. Just by separating our trash everyday into plastics, cardboard/paper, cans, etc., we can minimize what we put in the landfills. Even if recycling was mandatory, I think this would help a lot. I spent some time in Germany and was able to participate in recycling more in depth. They recycle almost everything and have strict trash rules. Food that was not consumed goes in one small bin and cans, boxes, paper, etc., were sorted into separate bins as well. If you had something that was not in the proper bin or if your trash bag had something that could be recycled they do not take the trash that day. Some of the food that was not consumed was buried, the cardboard/paper, etc., was sent out to be recycled and reused. All of this helps keep Germany green and clean. Maybe we should follow in Germany’s footsteps to help keep our landfills clean of items that can be recycled and used again. According to the United States Environmental Protection Agency, in 2006, only 32% of the trash that was picked up was recycled in the United States. This leaves 68% of trash that is still going to the landfills and not being recycled. Although this recycling average is low, The Environmental Protection Agency hoped by 2019 the recycle percentage would reach 75%. The amount of trash that one person generates is astonishing. According to the EPA from Green Waste, in a single day 4.5 pounds is thrown out, which is about 1.5 tons of solid waste a year per person. The EPA estimates that 75% of solid waste is recyclable, but 30% is actually being

Evidence: Eighty percent of the fresh water that we consume is used to grow food. Yet we end up throwing nearly half of that food away. "When you throw out a burger, that's the equivalent of taking a 90-minute shower, "says Dana Gunders from the Natural Resources Defense Council. "Throwing out an apple is like taking a seven-minute shower

The United States produces roughly 250 million tons of solid waste, or garbage, on an annual basis. This number equates to 4.4 pounds of solid waste created by every American on a daily basis (Miller, Meindl, & Caradine, 2016). The recycling rate in the U.S. is around 35%, meaning over 165 million tons of waste is placed in the nation’s landfills or incinerated each year (Mozo-Reyes, Jambeck, Reeves, & Johnsen, 2015). Landfilling recyclables contributes to a greater strain on global resources because materials that may have been reused must now be replaced (Miller, et.al. 2016). Landfilling waste also contributes to air pollution through the release of methane (Delkash, Zhou, and Singh, 2016) and poses threats to groundwater near landfills (Talalaj & Biedka, 2016). As the population of the nation (and the world) increases, strategies must be found to reuse resources rather than simply disposing of them.

Americans have yet to face the unnerving reality of the fact that “in 2008 only 7.1% of the 30.05 million tons of plastic waste in America was recycled” (Linn). This low percentage is shocking, outrageous, and should terrify the American public, but this number can change. Recycling is not just a feel good experience; it is a way to help save energy, space, and money. However, with the enormous amount of trash being thrown out each year, landfills are increasing in size creating numerous issues. The staggering amount of waste increases greenhouse gases, contributing to global warming and building up dangerous toxins that sink underground into our soil and water, overflows into wildlife habitats and oceans, and costs a large amount of money to remove. By fining residents who incorrectly dispose of recyclable goods, implementing recycling as a requirement in educational institutions and other business and residential settings, categorizing the

The people of America throw away more trash than any other society in the world! America consumes 80 percent of our planet's resources, even though we make up only 20 percent of the world's population (Cooper 267). The average person throws away 4.3 pounds of trash each day. That's about 30 pounds per week and 120 pounds per month! (“Reduce and Reuse” 1). Americans throw away too much - that's the bottom line (Cooper 265). There is a garbage crisis in America and “the only part of the anti-waste message that has taken hold to any noticeable degree is the call to recycle” (Cooper 267). Our country's issues on trash and recycling go hand in hand. America produces too much trash, and the environment is suffering. There is some effort

Nevertheless, rejectors might argue the service will cost too much to provide for, but it will be paid through taxes and volunteers can provide their services. In an article called “Global Trash Hits Crisis level: A look at the Mounting Waste Problem and What Can Be Done to Fix it” Ann M. Simmons states “Each year, nations generate 1.3 billion tons of waste. That's expected to soar to 4 billion tons by 2100” (Simmons). The people of this earth have almost no regard for their home; they are literally choking their living house to death. True that we have recycling programs, but one or two when we should have hundreds is atrocious. The U.S. is one of the leading countries in waste production, the Americans of our “great” nation are to languorous to deal with the horrifying amount of waste we accumulate each year. In the same article (as above) Simmons states “[The] U.S. produced about 228 million tons of waste in 2006, a figure that climbed to 254 million tons by 2013” (Simmons). The World around us says America is the land of opportunity, but what opportunities are there if we are drowning in waste. We are sinking into a bottomless pit getting trampled by waves of economic issues and we aren't even fighting or trying to swim out of it. Red, white, and blue will soon be covered in green slop if we keep producing so much waste and wiping it clean starts with us, Highland

Intro: Imagine a whole forest being cut down just to store our garbage. This can be stopped if we recycle. Deforestation is a major issue today. This is because man is using natural resources to fulfill his needs. The increase of these demands has led to increasing levels of destruction of our natural resources. These resources being limited, a day would probably arrive when we don't really have anything to turn towards. Think about all the trees that are being axed in the forests today. Our habits of wasting paper could be one of the million reasons that contribute

The United Sates and Canada are some of the top natural resources spots. When they are mined the materials they use heavy machinery which could pollute the land, air, and water around it and leaves rock and other natural material just sitting on the top of the landfills. These landfills should be used as something elsa when they have been mined up with so it is not just left empty.

As a member of Environmental Club, I participate in sorting and processing the recyclables in the high school once a month. A few times a year, the Environmental Club holds a “trash bash,” where our entire club meets at a “trashed” area in our community and cleans it up. This normally takes most of the

The United States of America has come a long way since its inception. The development of homes, cars, technologies, goods, and services has evolved. Also, the way in which Americans consume has drastically changed. And with all these great things, came solid waste generation, and unfortunately not methods for disposing of it in an environmentally friendly manner. The United States is the top trash-producing country in the world at over 1,600 pounds per person per year. Although the U.S. accounts for 5% of the world’s population, it generates 40% of the world’s waste. According to the Environmental Protection Agency’s Municipal Solid Waste Generation, Recycling, and Disposal in the United States: Facts and Figures for 2010 “Americans generated about 250 million tons of trash and recycled and composted over 85 million tons of materials, resulting in 34.1 percent recycling rate. On average, each American generates about 4.43 pounds of waste each day. Only 1.51 pounds of that material were recycled and composed” (EPA, 2010).

Finally, there is a way to fight against landfills, and it is called recycling! Dictnary.com said that recycling is to “convert (waste) into reusable material.” If we recycle we can save energy, reduce pollution, conserve natural resources, help new jobs to be made in recycling business, and reduce trash in the landfills. Www.conserve-energy-future.com clarrifies “2000 pounds of recycled paper can actually help to save 17 trees, over 350 gallons of oil, and a lot of landfill space!” We need to recycle to save mother earth. Consequently recycling is the perfect way to fight

A worker at a paper factory in Illinois states, “Then the issue was saving a tree. But trees are replaced. We plant them, we cut them, we plant them again” (Pendleton). The worker also said, “The problem now is the landfill situation, I think this one is going to stick” (Pendleton). By 1991 thirty-nine states and hundreds of local governments have passed laws or solutions requiring the purchase of recycled paper. According to Henry Miller, vice president of a paper mill said, “By volume, thirty-eight percent of solid waste in a landfill is paper and cardboard” (Pendleton). That paper and cardboard, if recycled could have produced that much paper or other products and it would have cleared up thirty-eight percent of many landfills across America. One major way to get people involved with recycling is the environment perspective. Not only would the landfills be cut down the environment gains a lot by having people recycle. So what do the states do to keep the environment clean? They enact laws against litter and waste. One way is the state requiring the deposit on beer and soft-drink bottles and cans (Prichard 8A). In those states, millions of bottles and cans that once were left on beaches, tossed in rivers and parks or thrown along the highways are being taken back to stores instead for a refund. A twenty-year old student from Michigan said, “Throwing away cans is like throwing away money to me” (Prichard 8A). These state laws must be working if people have this

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.