The Environmental Issues
of Waste Management
By Jan Gamm
Environmental issues cover a wide range of innovations which might begin with encouraging the children to home produce this year's Christmas decorations and end with selling off the factory off cuts so they may be recycled into the manufacturing community.
Each time the average family buys a plastic bottle of washing detergent and disposes of the empty container into the general trash without separating it for recycling the planet has to deal with one more lump of non biodegradable plastic that will sit in landfill for years.
Environmental responsibility begins in the home and should carry through to the office and the production floor of every factory. In the modern world, it is almost impossible not to add to the environmental problem in some way every day. However, by addressing the problems that we can deal with easily, we might make a start.
The start of a responsible eco friendly policy begins with educating children on how to dispose of waste within the home. Cans should be washed under the kitchen tap and disposed of in a recycling container. Glass items should have the paper labels removed and then be placed in a separate glass bin before being taken to the bottle plant on a regular basis.
Paper should be stacked and stored in a container before being taken for recycling. Remember never to stash paper waste where it might constitute a fire hazard. Cardboard boxes should be collapsed and cereal boxes squashed flat before being put into sacks and emptied into a communal cardboard recycling bin.
Plastics constitute the worst possible threat to the environment and should be recycled diligently to eventually avoid the necessity of further and irresponsible production of more plastics. Oil should be disposed of carefully and on the advice of a professional waste management expert.
Some products are a compound of materials and disposal poses a problem. Pharmaceutical products are an example: what do you do with a dimple pack of tablets that are out of date? The metal covering on a plastic pack of pills should be removed somehow and the pills disposed of separately but the question of what to do with such problems can keep you guessing for days! Where there is doubt, call your local environmental and waste specialist to ask advice.
Aerosols became a burning issue years ago when geologists and environmentalists first discovered the hole in the ozone and the damage being done to the planet. Yet the human race still stubbornly uses aerosol systems for household cleaning products and cosmetics, despite being able to replace them with adequate pump sprays that do not damage the atmosphere.
The question of waste and recycling is one that touches every member of the community, both commercial and residential. In the world today there is not one single issue that affects every single human being regardless of race, creed or age. It's about time we all woke up and began to work together for a greener environment and one that might outlive us all.
