NOT ENOUGH SPACE
LANDFILLS create several problems...
METHANE (CH4)Methane is a greenhouse gas that's emitted by rotting organic matter in landfills, and it can be 84% more potent that carbon dioxide in the short run. This contributes to the greenhouse effect by absorbing the infrared radiation in the atmosphere and causes global warming.
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LEACHATELeachate is the accumulation of liquid that seeps to the bottom of landfills, collecting the toxins and pollutants of the waste. It is able to contaminate ground and surface water, spreading to ecosystems and damaging wildlife.
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Landfills have led to some of the most heated, acrimonious battles over pollution in the public commons that have ever been seen. While there are a number of reasons for the vehement arguments that surround landfills, one of the largest is the juxtaposition of both the understood need for landfills and the lack of will to live near one. Landfills will only become more of a public issue as time goes on.
NOT ENOUGH RESOURCES
CONSUMERISM must be addressed...
What is consumerism?
This graph to the right depicts the projected year on which we will run out of fossil fuels if we continue to consume at our current rate.
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The new slavery is consumerism.
-Bryant H. McGill, American Author
NOT ENOUGH CHANGE
RECYCLING is not enough...
Problems with Recycling
While recycling is a better option than tossing trash into landfills, it's not the perfect solution, and there are so many better approaches. In the diagram to the right, recycle and rot (compost) are at the bottom, meaning deciding how you trash things should be last. Instead, we should focus on using less, so we don't produce as much trash in the first place. |
There is no such thing as 'away'. When we throw anything away it must go somewhere.
-Annie Leonard, Proponent of Sustainability