People all around the world throw away garbage daily and think nothing of it but after it is out of your home it is taken to a landfill. A landfill is built into or atop the ground and kept isolated from the surrounding environment. The purpose of a landfill is to bury the trash so it will be kept away from groundwater and kept dry so that it will not decompose much. It is not at all like a compost pile. The population has grown over the years leaving us with more garbage than we know what to do with so instead of burning the trash and putting dangerous fumes into the air we put it into the ground to eventually harm us over time because most people have the mindset of out of sight out of mind and this and when the garbage is underground people no longer worry about it.
Most landfills are lined with plastic to keep things from seeping out but what happens to a landfill that is over 20 years old? The plastic begins to break down, and the waste inside seeps out and flows through the water vessels and puts harmful gasses into the air. These gases are made when bacteria break down toxic waste. The following gases listed should be our main concern, ammonia, sulfides, methane, and carbon dioxide. Methane is very flammable and can be explosive. If methane and carbon dioxide move into buildings, it can cause a lack of oxygen which will result in death. The sad thing is carbon dioxide and methane make up about 90 to 98% of landfill gas. The gases listed above makes up the rest of the percentage of what surrounds landfills.
Eye, throat, and lung irritation, trouble sleeping, and asthma flare ups are the short-term health effects of these hazardous gases. Long term health effects; lack of oxygen, fast heartbeat, and reduced coordination. Landfill gases can move through soil into outdoor and indoor air of buildings close by. Outdoor air that is contaminated may enter a building through doors and ventilation systems. Contaminated soil can enter a building through cracks in floor and foundation of the building, walls and utility entry ways. This is called soil vapor intrusion and once the gases enter a building they can collect in places with poor ventilation and stay there causing harm to humans.
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Once the landfill has reached its maximum carrying capacity special covering is placed over the mass of garbage. After the covering process is over pipes covered in small holes are placed throughout the landfill. This makes it easier for gas to move away from the location site. These vents need to be drained routinely and kept clear of debris and anything else that obstructs the pathway of gas. Eventually the contents of the landfill begin to decompose over time and liquid flows through solids and picks up undesirable matter this is called leachate. When leachate gets into the ground water it causes significant harm to humans, it can also cause harm to aquatic species which is bad for the environment. Groundwater is one of the most important sources to humans because it is our only drinking source since ocean water cannot be desalinated.
Not only does contaminated ground water effect animals but so does the food that we throw away. Our food waste has the ability disrupt the reproduction of animals that eat from landfills. Birds the eat rotting food from the landfill also consume plastics and other materials that should not be ingested. This causes stunts in growth and other strange reproduction problems with the birds. Some studies even say that the winged creatures ae forgetting their normal ways of migration south for the winter and nesting near the site of a landfill for the food.
“Approximately 72 percent of the waste currently being landfills or incinerated consists of materials that could be out to a higher and better use through recycling or composting. Most of this material is office paper, cardboard, non-recyclable paper, and food waste”-Minnesota Office Of Environmental assistance. Landfills are extremely harmful to the environment and there are ways to help reduce the amount of waste that gets dumped daily. The following things are tips to help reduce waste: don’t throw away clothes instead donate them to a charity or someone who can get good use out of them. Donate un eaten food or compost what can’t be given away this will help not only our Earth but people in need.
Reducing the use of plastic thrown away and this will help keep our oceans clean and keep the aquatic animals healthy. Another thing you could do is buy more eco-friendly things when you go shopping for instance, instead of using plastic bags every time you go to a store buy one reusable bag this may seem inconvenient at first but will pay off in the long run. The chemicals inside batteries can leak over time so instead buy re-chargeable batteries so they last longer and stay out of landfills. More importantly get involved, talk to members of your community about what’s happening and how to stop it and maybe you can make a difference. Landfills cause lots of harm to the Earth and all who inhabit it sadly there are no other ways to get rid of trash than landfills. Burning it would only create air pollution and dumping it into the ocean causes more problems than we can imagine. Landfills are our only option until future scientist come up with a new way to deal with garbage.
“Landfills are among the biggest contributors to soil pollution – roughly 80% of the items buried in landfills could be recycled” (50 Statistics That Will Make You Think Twice About Your Trash.” Commercial Garbage & Waste Management Company | Rubicon Global, 10 Dec. 2018, www.rubiconglobal.com/blog-statistics-trash-recycling/.) Recycling could help the environment and help reduce the number of landfills in America. Currently 20,000 landfills open right now which is destroying our Earth. Statistics say five out of ten people would recycle more of it were easier. One way to make more people recycle is to make it a law. If it were a law, then big cooperation’s and schools would recycle and this would reduce the amount of paper and plastic being put into landfills. In conclusion there are ways to help reduce the negative effects of landfills recycling is one of the biggest way to help our environment. In the future I hope there will be a eco-friendlier ways to dispose of our garbage and humans will be more educated about the problems that will arise if no precautions are taken.
