Vasile Matthew Vasile Professor McReynolds Intro to Environmental Science April 29, 2012

Wasting in America The bottom line for the United States is that Americans consume too much and dont take proper care of the waste that follows. This is a self-destructive path that in time will lead to the devastation of once treasured places by use of popular methods like landfills and dumping. Wasting encompasses not only trash but also misplaced recyclable items like plastic, paper, and even water all of which can be easily conserved when handled carefully. Society is completely reliant on a finite network of natural resources that supplies everyday necessities. What people tend to forget is that their actions impact everyone around them and through wasting, they are impacting the planet. In 2008, the average amount of waste generated by each person in America was 4.5 pounds, not even a fourth of which was recycled or recovered for recycle. Obviously, waste management is an issue that people dont take seriously, and understand that its everyones responsibility to keep control of trash disposal, not the sole responsibility of the men who drive the green dump trucks. Through the proper control of plastic disposal, food wasting, and trash burning, humans have made significant progress to reverse the changes of global warming and ultimately conserve the earths precious resources.

More recently, environmental movements have started in order to clean up creeks, beaches, and recover recyclable resources so that people can reuse and restore, but it isnt enough. Studies have shown that there are already materials in landfills that will not biodegrade in our lifetime; things that could have been recycled had the user been informed or aware of what they were doing. Sometimes, even banana peels don't decompose once they reach the landfill. For sanitary reasons,

Vasile 2 modern landfills are lined on the bottom with clay and plastic to keep waste from escaping into the soil and are covered daily with a layer of earth to reduce odor. The landfill, then, acts like a trash tombthe garbage within receives little air, water, or sunlight. This means that even readily degradable waste objects, including paper and food scraps, are more likely to mummify than decompose (Lapidos). This method takes time, and unless the plastic is exposed at the surface, it will take years longer for it to decompose. This mummification process cannot go on forever, and eventually there will be a price to pay for trash disposal in manners like this.

Americans dont realize that in time the very earth we stand upon wont have any more resources to give unless we are smart about what we do now. This issue is not only restricted to plastic but also largely involves food wasting as well. On average, the Biola University Caf wastes approximately 400 pounds of food a week, which is startling because this is a number that could be 0, its simple really: take what you know youll eat and only go back for more after your done with what you have! What may sound like an elementary practice is more than vital to the survival of the planet. Annually, the United States spends about 1 billion dollars just to dispose of food waste; where in third world in countries, or even locally this excess food could have been put to good use for free. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, food leftovers are the single-largest component of the waste stream by weight in the United States. Food waste includes uneaten food and food preparation scraps from residences or households, commercial establishments like restaurants, institutional sources like school cafeterias, and industrial sources like factory lunchrooms. Over 12 percent of the total municipal solid waste generated in American households was food scrap and less than three percent was recovered. The rest was thrown away and disposed in landfills or combusted in incinerators (EPA). Overall these problems and spending in this area are completely avoidable, this should not be the number one source of waste to any degree. If everyone just pitches in by paying more attention to whats on his or her plate the world will be better off.

Vasile Among other things, humans assume that their trash disappears after they drop it into an

enclosed sealed off can. However, its more complicated then that. Methods of disposal are taxing to the environment and extremely finite. Burning trash has proved to be dangerous for multiple reasons, as it pollutes the atmosphere, produces stronger toxins, and can be destructive to the surrounding environment. Smoke from any fire can affect your health, your family's health and your neighbor's health. The smoke from backyard burning is released close to the ground where people can easily breathe it. The smoke from the fire can deposit chemicals on garden vegetables and garden soil. People can be exposed to those chemicals by eating fruits and vegetables grown near the trash-fire or in garden soil tilled with the ashes. Young children may be at greater risk than adults because of their playing behaviors, their small size and their developing bodies (NYDOH). Through this study trash burning has proved to be counterproductive and have more negative affects on our health than other conventional methods of disposal. Due to the dangerous of trash burning, it has been outlawed in most states and proven to have a negative affect on the health of our children and us. Only fires that are approximately three feet around, and in a designated pit, completely under control are allowed. In conclusion, the recent studies in regards to a wide variety of waste management and waste disposal methods have proved to be ineffective on modern day society. There are much smarter avenues that can be taken in order to prevent people from succumbing to trash disposal norms and using just a little bit less. Its difficult to understand how much of a negative affect just one person can have on the environment, and how much more they could do if they just were informed sooner. Its everyones responsibility to take care of our home, reduce; recycle and reuse are key phrases to remember when caught in the middle of a difficult disposal situation. Recycle places will pay good money to people in order to recycle their goods, and its not difficult to do, it just requires gathering all eligible products and taking some time to organize the goods into bins so that the goods can be recycled easily.

Vasile 4 There are a lot of things to learn from these studies, particularly the importance what it means when we dont recycle the proper things and how they dont just magically disappear but instead they actually end up going in a landfill or having to go somewhere. Its important that we take proper care of the resources we were given and manage whats available to us smartly and efficiently. Personally, I know that theres a lot more I could be doing in terms of taking proper care of the environment and managing my waste. Disposing of plastic bags, bottles, paper, or biodegradable food can help to slow pollution and its up to us to reverse the harmful effects weve already inconvenienced the world with. Newer methods of disposal and recycling thats more efficient and people try to be responsible about will help everyone on the planet and still gives our children something to grow up enjoying. Through this project I learned more about what it means to control waste management and overuse of certain resources on earth. There must be changes to our current system of trash disposal and everyone has to do their part to reduce and reuse. These changes will take time and help preserve Gods wonderful creation and show that Christians can honor Gods word and the planet at the same time. Although we are in an affluent society and it is difficult to resist overconsumption and waste control we should try our best to set a Christ like example for the sake of our finite earth that is rapidly becoming weaker and less sustainable since there is not unlimited resources on earth.

Vasile Works Cited Page Juliet Lapidos. Will my plastic bag still be here in 2507? June 27, 2007.

<http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/explainer/2007/06/will_my_plastic_bag_still_be_he re_in_2507.html> Environmental Protection Agency. Food Waste April 19, 2012. <http://www.epa.gov/osw/conserve/materials/organics/food/index.htm> New York Department of Health. Does burning trash make it disappear? March 2012. <http://www.health.ny.gov/environmental/outdoors/air/trash.htm> Published by: Scribd.com