Guest guest Posted January 29, 2008 Report Share Posted January 29, 2008 Waste Management 101 Wait, don't throw that away Litter is more than just ugly; waste can have detrimental effects on the environment and our health. The good news is we produce more than we have to, so applying some good management practices can save energy and resources and maintain a healthy environment for our future. Find out what you can do today to waste less. Reduce, reuse, recycle You've been hearing that line for years, and it's still just as important as when you were in grade school. Chanting the three Rs reminds us to buy less waste in the first place. Did you know packaging material is one of the largest contributors to landfills? Reusing products means materials do not need to be reprocessed before they can be used again. You drop off your clothes at Salvation Army — little did you know you were saving the earth at the same time you were helping those in need! Once you've reduced and reused, then toss it in the recycling bin. Recycling saves energy The energy needed to create a new can from a recycled can is 95 percent less than the energy needed to create a new can from scratch. Recycling relieves pressure on natural resources. Almost 40 percent of American's waste is paper and could be recycled, meaning fewer trees would need to be cut down in the future. A good portion of our trash is yard and food waste, which could easily be composted and used to enrich soil in your lawn or garden. Recycling diverted 79 million tons of material away from landfills and incinerators in 2005. Too much trash The average American throws away 4.5 lbs of trash every day, and it adds up: In total we throw away about 250 million tons per year — that's the weight of about 2,500 aircraft carriers or almost 700 Empire State Buildings! Where is " away, " exactly? Our trash has to go somewhere. Usually, our solid waste is incinerated or heads to a landfill, and both have health and environmental implications. There are no pretty or easy solutions here. Just shove it under the rug Landfills cause pollution of the local environment when they leak and contaminate groundwater and soil, and on top of that they emit harmful greenhouse gases that contribute to global warming. And they don't just disappear — they take lifetimes to biodegrade and take up lots of room. Landfills are not just bad news for the environment but for our health as well. Leakage of harmful chemicals can contaminate the soil where our food grows and our drinking water comes from, and who wants to eat or drink that? Burn it Incinerating trash can release dangerous toxins into the air that we breathe. Ever smelled plastic burning? Imagine that on larger scale. When it rains, these toxic chemicals ultimately end up in water bodies and in our bodies. Goddess Bless! GrannyMoon http://GoddessSchool.com http://goddessschool.com/Paganstudies/index.html http://goddessschool.com/Paganstudies/healingarts.html The GoddessSchool Bookstore http://astore.amazon.com/ancestordetect08/ " Do not ask Goddess to guide your footsteps if you are not willing to move your feet! " ~GoddessSchool Version: 7.5.516 / Virus Database: 269.19.15/1249 - Release 1/29/2008 9:51 AM Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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