Have you ever pondered on environmental concerns? And about your role in this process? As a rule, people believe that their responsibility for maintaining the environment is simply to throw rubbish away into the waste bin.
The rest is handled by the municipal authorities. But is that true? Let’s take a closer look. The municipality operates according to established rules. These rules include rubbish collection.
Depending on the current programmes in place, some of the rubbish is recycled, while the rest is sent to a landfill or incinerated. However, is this really beneficial?
No, it’s not.
Let’s look at the main types of rubbish that need to be sorted out. These include plastics and their derivatives, such as food packaging, bottles from cleaning products, shampoo bottles, and other stretchable packaging. There are also disposable tableware items like plates, cups, and utensils. Bags, toothbrushes, and packages of sour cream, yogurt, milk, and other dairy products are also included.
All of these are large masses of plastic, which are mixed with other waste materials like food waste, wood from wooden products, glass from wine bottles and cans, paper, and batteries. This terrible mixture then enters the soil, where it is either buried or burned.
What happens then? Micro particles of plastic can enter the soil, water, or air and mix with the decomposition products of organic matter and other chemicals. These particles become permanent companions of landfill, where birds, mice, and rats live. They carry many pathogenic viruses, including those that can be harmful to humans.
When rubbish is burned, it releases heavy carcinogens into the environment, poisoning the soil, water, and air. This includes rubbish from plastic discarded by passing ships. One person on average generates about 400 to 600 kilograms of rubbish each year. That’s half a ton! How much more will 1,000 people generate? Or 1,000,000? It’s a lot, and it all needs to be addressed. Is there a way to solve this problem?
Absolutely.
But you need to start with yourself. What can we all do to make a positive impact on the environment? The first and most important step is to separate and dispose of rubbish in a responsible manner. Most household waste consists of plastic and its by-products.
Before throwing anything away, make sure to wash it well to remove any lingering odour. The next crucial step is sorting. All household waste has recycling symbols on the packaging. By separating the garbage based on its composition, you will have polypropylene, polystyrene, polyethylene, and other components.
This is a huge step in the right direction for improving the environment. Finally, when the rubbish has been sorted, washed, and dried, it can be recycled. Sounds strange, but it has many benefits. Imagine how much plastic we throw away in the bin. It will fill up quickly. Now, instead of a full bin, we have small pellets at the bottom of the can. It’s easy to store plastic waste. The exception is devices that accept empty containers, but these machines are not available in all countries yet.
Does grinding take a lot of time? Not at all, if you do it every day without accumulating. Will the process require additional expenses? No, just minor ones, such as a bottle of cleaning solution, gloves, and metal scissors or pruners. Large milk containers or plastic boxes with a capacity of 3 to 5 kilograms are ideal for storage. Filling a box will take some time, but then the box can be recycled or donated to environmental organisations. By taking these simple but significant steps, you can help contribute to the planet’s purification.
Leave a Reply