Unsustainable patterns for the production and consumption of waste exist throughout economies across the world. The issue that we currently face is taking a real initiative to reduce the amount of waste we dump into landfills every day. As the population in urban areas continue to rise, we will see dramatic increases in the amount of municipal solid waste being dumped into these landfills. This article discussed the topics of source reduction and the recycling of waste. Source reduction is the riddance of waste before it is created. Recycling is the conversion of waste into reusable materials. In 2012 the total amount of municipal solid waste generated in just one year worldwide totaled up to 1.3 billion tons. This figure is projected to …show more content…
However, they do sell reusable shopping bags to customers who forget to bring their own for an affordable price. Another city that is doing their part to work towards lessening their generation of waste is Portland, Oregon. Portland prohibits the use of polystyrene foam containers in restaurants and other retail vendors. This is to help them achieve waste production close to “Zero Waste”. They want to be able to reach their goal of producing no more than 10% of waste that will go into landfills. They have also given their residents guidance to purchase eco-friendly products by making sure they are durable, recyclable, reusable, and biodegradable. There is the waste to energy system that was mentioned in the article as well. Several cities have taken initiative to reduce waste by converting it to energy. This has allowed some districts to be able to provide energy to power school buildings or heating systems for an entire community. City governments are trying to seek financial incentives too. They are trying out higher landfill charges to encourage people to recycle or compost instead of throwing all of their waste away. This is similar to the “Pay As You Throw” system. Recycling of materials such as plastics or aluminum in exchange for money is a form of refund system that cities also offer as an alternative to throwing these materials into the trash. There was even a section about “Empowering
estimate the cost to see if you have enough money to complete it? For if you
In Sweden, less than 1% of their trash ends up in landfills. 50% of their trash is incinerated, causing steam that spin generator turbines, creating electricity, which is distributed across the country from their WtE (Waste to Energy) facilities. One way we can reduce our amount of trash is by recycling everyday objects such as plastic water
Theories in Criminal Justice Michael Robertson The University of Southern Mississippi Criminology is the study of reason or explanations as to why people choose to either commit a crime or why they do not commit a crime. In criminology there seems to be two broad explanations, natural explanations and spiritual explanations. Spiritual explanations as to why people choose to commit a crime usually come from supernatural concepts or outer worldly figures. For example, people used to believe that if someone was to commit a murder, that the murderer was possessed or forced to commit this crime by supernatural forces.
Additionally, because many citizens do not understand how plastic bags are made, used, how landfills work, I had no clue, that in a dry landfill, paper bags don't degrade any faster than plastic bags, because we don't understand how things are recycled. According to Monstrous, banning plastic bags will only create hardship for consumers not only making it inconvenient for the customer, but also in the long run will cause more environmental damage. (32) There has been so much misleading information in our media culture world. But, all in all, using plastic bags impacts the environment much less than using paper ones. (32) As one partial solution to our environmental problems, could be to make recycling resources mandatory, both paper and plastic, in addition, why not add cardboard, and glass. Once established, the government agencies would ultimately be responsible for developing regulations, enforce, and reviewing the overall success through ethical sound research. At which time, adjustments could be made to improve the overall process. Secondly, the money collected at the stores from individuals, who still use plastic bags, could be used to implement this new process and higher cleanup crews picking up trash and recyclables. This could become one of the activities of the Peace Corps, Ecology Youth Corps, job corps, nonviolent inmates, and summer jobs for our youth, especially
In 2012, Americans generated about 251 million tons of trash and recycled and composted almost 87 million tons of this material (“Municipal Solid Waste”). There are many ways to end our environmental crisis, such as reducing our amount of trash, recycling items, and reusing other items.
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
It is often thought that recycling isn’t very productive or effective. What this argument overlooks is that; “In the United States we generate enough trash to fill 63,000 garbage trucks that hold 9 tons of trash each. If we remove the recyclables we would need only 46,000 garbage trucks” (York 1). Since 153 tons of garbage is recycled and saved each day, it has proven to be more effective.
The religion that I will be presenting is Christianity. Christianity was founded by Jesus Christ in the first century A.D. Jesus was born of a young virgin women named Mary, and her husband Joseph, a carpenter, in the town of Bethlehem. They then fled to Egypt to escape King Herod's decree that all young boys will be killed, and lived there for two years. Jesus then lived a fairly normal life until he turned 30, which is when He began His ministry. Jesus called 12 disciples, who would follow Him when He taught and preached to people. Jesus did this for three years, until it was time for Him to be crucified by the Romans. Jesus died by crucifixion, but rose again on the third day after His death. He then ministered to people for another 40 days, before ascending into Heaven. The news of Jesus spread throughout the known world, and even though many people were martyred for their faith in Jesus, Christianity has become the predominant religion in the world.
There is also an incentive to recycle for monetary gain as well. For example, Phoenix, Arizona made over 500 million dollars selling their recyclables to the private sector. Not to mention the tax breaks from the federal and state government for installing a recycling program. It helps the city's budget while making the planet a cleaner and safer place to life in. It really is one of those rare
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
We, humans, are producing waste every day, polluting and destroying our planet. To save the world, many people believe recycling is the obvious solution. It is the process of converting certain waste into a reusable material. Therefore, the recycle motto is “Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle”. However, have you ever wondered why the word recycle is placed at the end? Well, it’s because it is not the only way to reduce waste and save the world from global warming. Recycling may have many advantages, but its disadvantages’ list is not a short one either. Recycling may look very simple and easy method, but when there is a need for a new unit of waste recycling, it takes up a lot of space. Not to mention the amount of money the building costs along with paying the staffs, buying new utility vehicles, upgrading the recycling unit and different types of chemical disposals. It is not only expensive but also, unhygienic, unsafe and unsightly with piles of waste materials on every location. These wastes spread infectious diseases putting human health at risk. Aside from recycling
Plastic bag recycling would bring great benefits to our planet earth, but it takes the support of citizens to promote this. A town "Gulftowne" (Jones 1) is being persistantly serious about making it mandatory to have shoppers use reusable bags in place of plastic and or paper bags. First of all, by using "reusable shopping bags" (Jones 1) it would majorly help by avoiding some of the littering and threaten of wildlife. Second of all, the "Cutting down trees to make paper greatly dimishes our forests" (Jones 2). However, "Gulftowne rely on tourists to make a living." (Jones 7) and did not think beyond the grocery stores when considering this proposterous ordinance. In addition to this, the price and maintence needed to keep up with reusable bas would have to be taken into consideration as well.
Recycling is an essential part of reducing the amount of waste filling up landfills. Recycling materials cannot only reduce waste but pollution as well. Unfortunately the typical recycling programs such as curbside pick-up and recycling centers require significant commitment from the public to be successful which generally leads to low participation. However there may be a solution to the problem. The pollution prevention and reduction program suggests the use of materials recovery facilities. Materials recovery facilities sort out recyclable materials from other waste products such as compostable items. By sorting out the waste at one central location more items get recycled and waste is reduced without public participation. A recent article by Wang (2010) suggests, “The installation of materials recovery facilities (MRFs) can be an alternative solution to the problem of low participation of voluntary household and curbside recycling in fast-growing cities.” Materials recovery facilities can be a viable solution for waste management problems where public participation is an obstacle. This solution also provides less societal impact because lifestyle change is not as critical.
The average resident produces seven and a half pounds of garbage every day that is buried down in landfills and litters lands costing a great amount of money. Nowadays, people face no more critical trouble than the need to save the weakening environment, mainly in urban areas, where solid wastes are uselessly dumped. It has been observed that cities have no controlled structure for garbage disposal. Each year, millions of dollars are spent picking up litter and more is thrown away in valuable materials that could be recycled. As humanity develops new technology and equipment, the level of waste increases every day. Due to the fact that there is a huge problem with garbage disposal, government representatives must contribute to resolving