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 Everyday we throw garbage for the city truck to pick up, unmindful of where it goes. Around the world today, the disposal of garbage has become a serious problem. They require landfills or incinerators that have in turn caused damage to human health and environment.
The most dangerous factor in landfills is their contamination of drinking water. Toxic chemicals in the garbage eventually leak into water tables, streams and lakes.
Near Miami, Florida, a 118-hectare lake is flanked by a land-fill. Today, if a healthy fish is thrown into the lake, it dies in less than 30 seconds. The underground water table is filled with poisons.
Incineration or burning of garbage, which reduces garbage weight by 75%, poses equally lethal dangers. Incineration produces some of the deadliest toxins known, such as dioxin, which are absorbed by plants and animals, which are in turn absorbed by human beings when we eat them. Dioxins have been found in breast milk in these areas. The high incidence of cancer of people living around incineration sites has been recorded in many parts of the world.
What You Can Do.
Reduce your share of garbage throwing by noting the following:
Recycle. Take part in a recycling program, or initiate one in your community. For example, 90% of old bottles can be recycled. So can 100% of aluminum cans. Other recyclable materials are paper, plastic, and metals.
Re-use. Do not throw away what can still be re-used, especially plastics. Plastic burning produces dioxin. Use the other side of a paper. When photocopying, use both sides of one sheet. Better yet, cut down on unnecessary consumption.
Reduce packaging. Fifty percent of household waste comes from packaging. Avoid buying things that are excessively packaged. Don't ask for extra plastic bags. Many people bring their own reusable string bags.
Buy or use recyclable materials.
Compost. Next to packaging materials, food and yard waste are the second largest volume of landfill materials. If your home has no space, encourage the community to establish compost heaps.
Avoid burning waste. It creates toxic emissions. Do it only as a last resort.
Use durable materials, not disposables. Use cloth napkins rather than paper napkins.
Share newspapers, magazines and catalogs. Don't subscribe to any you don't read.
Have garage sales or charity pickups, rather than throwing things away.
Don't be afraid to speak out. Write letters to manufacturers, or to the papers to encourage recycling and reduction of unnecessary consumption.
Source: Will Steger and Jon Bowermaster, Saving the Earth. Alfred A. Knopf. Inc., New York, N.Y., U.S.A.
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