Waste management has been an issue for even developed countries for a long time. Waste disposal is one of the core issues in this regard. Countries and organizations across the globe are working on new techniques and technologies to find out ways of proper waste and trash disposal. The disposal practices how ever differ for developing nations and developed nations or even between rural and urban areas of the same country.
With the growth of the world economy the production of waste has also grown. Europe produces in 1995 used to produce more than 2.5 billion tons a year and ever day people of New York threw away trash around 26000 tons (UNEP, n/a). Now the figures have increased even more. People have become more environmentally and health wise conscious about problems related to waste and its proper management. No more can rivers be used as waste dumping sites or rubber is burnt to dispose it off.
Common waste disposal techniques used are landfills which are areas where waste is buried in the ground and incineration which is combustion of waste. Techniques such as recycling or source reduction are not disposal methods. They are ways of making reducing the amount of disposable waste. Of course there are drawbacks related to each method of waste disposal. For example incineration causes global warming, green house gases and release of toxic chemicals etc. Landfill sites are a source of production of methane gas and other toxic chemical substances (Gibson & Mallon, p. 5). Landfill dumping also eats up available land space and cause direct environmental pollution.
Improper disposal of waste does cause serious health problems. Proper disposal of garbage and trash is important to ensure safety from health hazards. A lot of consumer and industrial goods, including fuels, fertilizers, pesticides, paints, and household cleaning disinfectants, have dangerous substances. Inappropriate dumping of these materials leads to unanticipated releases of chemicals that are harmful to humans and environment. Open burning of tires produces noxious fumes. Diseases such as hepatitis, dysentery, typhoid, gastro intestinal problems etc and many other diseases are passed on from one person to another because of the fecal pollution of water and food caused by inappropriate dumping of human wastes. Ground water pollution causes contamination of drinking water. This ground water pollution is caused by improper disposal of sewage (Geophysics, p. 24). Correct sewage discarding means are extremely necessary to manage disease-causing bacteria, to eliminate crude materials, evade the chances of drinking water contamination and lessen obnoxious odors and unattractive appearance (Ship, p. 1).
Improper disposal of waste near landfills or open dumping causes release of harmful chemicals and gases which result in global warming due to the green house effect (EPA, p. 1). This results in unexpected storms, floods, land precipitation etc. Moreover these chemicals are also a cause of acid rain and when this rain falls on the vegetables and fruits we eat, they become dangerous for our health. The oceans have also been used as dumping sites for a long time. However people did not realize that disposal of waste in oceans is a direct route for toxic compounds to gain entry in the food chain (UNEP, n/a).
Thus we see that improper disposal of garbage does cause serious health issues and should not be neglected. Proper trash disposal is a duty of governments, if you leave it to the citizens alone, it will always be improper (Bechtel, p. 10). Waste should always be discarded in such a manner that it does not cause contaminations, is not reachable by insects and rodents, give rise to toxic chemicals or gases etc. By following these rules, we can save our communities from health hazards cause by improper disposal of garbage.
Works Cited
- Bechtel, W. and Luckhardt, C. (1994). How to do things with logic. Published by Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
- Geophysics Research Forum. (1984). Ground water contamination. Published by National Academies Press
- Environmental Protection Agency. Climate change and waste.
- Gibson, A and Mallon, J. (2005). Landfill as a Waste Management Technique : A Case Study of Belfast.
- Ship, S. (1998). Environmental safety in the community and the home.
- United Nations System-Wide Earth Watch. (1996-2007). UNEP.