A lot of the materials we used are often wasted and thrown away in landfills to rot.
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We use a lot of materials in our daily lives that end up in the trash can. Many of us throw packaging, unwanted objects, and leftover food straight to the trash can without a care in the world. However, all the stuff that we carelessly throw away have consequences. The majority of our waste ends up in a landfill to slowly rot, releasing greenhouse gases and other pollutants into the air. In fact, researchers estimate that 20% of the total methane emissions from human-related sources are produced from open waste landfill sites,
landfills that allow greenhouse gases to go into the air and are the majority of landfills in the U.S. (earthday.org). There are many different types of waste, but they are all dangerous to the environment.
One of the most dangerous types of waste out there is plastic waste. Unlike other materials, plastic doesn't decompose: instead, it breaks into smaller and smaller pieces until it becomes microplastics, tiny pieces of plastic that you can barely see. These microplastics are very dangerous to wildlife: it is estimated that 1,500 different species [have] been found to have consumed toxic plastics and microplastics,
slowly poisoning them and wrecking biodiversity (earthday.org). Plastics can cause alterations in wildlife's habitat: as debris accumulates, habitat structure may be modified, light levels may be reduced in underlying waters, and oxygen levels may be depleted
(EPA). Furthermore, plastics have the potential to absorb chemicals of concerns from the environment,
multiplying the toxicity of plastics (EPA).
Another problematic type of waste is food waste. A lot of food is thrown away in the trash: specifically, up to 40 percent of all food in the United States goes unsold or uneaten ... [with] the majority of it, about 33 million tons, ending up in landfills
(NRDC). According to NRDC, food wste can come form a variety of sources:
17 percent of all food waste,specifically (NRDC). Farmers tend to grow a surplus of crops to avoid food shortages or price shocks, but it results in the crops not being used at all and left to wilt. Also, retailers tend to only prefer the best looking crops, so food seen as "ugly" will be thrown away.
Food waste has negative consequences. When food is wasted, all of the land, water, energy, and time spent to create that food is wasted as well. Furthermore, food waste releases a lot of greenhouse gases into the air. Research estimates that wasted food in the United States creates annual greenhouse gas emissions that are equivalent to the impact of 50 million gas-powered cars
(NRDC).
Textile waste is the throwing out of used cloth and fabrics. Many of these abandoned clothes end up in landfills to decompose: 66% of [discarded textiles] are sent to landfills in the U.S. ... [whereas] only 15% of used textiles are theoretically 'recycled', and of those, up to half are simply shipped abroad to other countries
(Boston University). Many of these recipient are poorer countries that do not have access to proper recycling facilities, resulting in much more environmental damage. In Ghana, a common recipient of textile trash, air pollution is caused by textiles that are being burned or left to decompose because they are not wanted or able to be used (Boston University). Furthermore, textile production demands a lot of water: to make a single cotton T-shirt, 2,700 liters of fresh water are required according to estimates, enough to meet one person's drinking needs for 2.5 years
(European Parliament). Throwing away textile fabric wastes all that precious freshwater that was used to make those fabrics. Not only that, but modern fabric tends to contain plastic-like synthetic material, so textile waste also releases lots of microplastics—just a single laundry load of polyester clothes can discharge 700,000 microplastic fibers
—into the air and water.
Electronic waste, or e-waste for short, is also dangerous to the environment and our health. E-waste is defined as any discarded product with a battery or plug, and features toxic and hazardous substances such as mercury, lead, chromium, and toxins, that can pose severe risk to human and environmental health
(GEN). Because of these toxic chemicals, e-waste can be dangerous, especially if not dealt with safely. These toxic chemicals are usually released when e-waste is disposed of using improper methods, such as landfilling or burning (WHO). When improper methods are used, the toxic pollution are released into the environment, exposing people and wildlife to hazardous substances. Open-air burning, for instance, can expose workers to high levels of contaminants such as lead, mercury, cadmium, and arsenic, which can lead to irreversible health effects, including cancers, miscarriages, neurological damage, and diminished IQs
(EPA). Unfortunately, disposing of e-waste improperly is very common: even in the EU, which leads the world in e-waste recycling, just 35% of e-waste is officially reported as properly collected and recycled
(GEN). To make matters worse, e-waste from developed countries such as the U.S. is shipped to developing countries that do not have the resources to handle e-waste properly (EPA). Imagine how much e-waste is disposed of improperly in countries that have barely any access to the recycling technology that the EU has!
Healthcare waste, also called medical waste, is thrown out medical equipment from hospitals, labs, and clinics. According to the NLM, there are many types of healthcare waste:
The healthcare system is supposed to help protect and saved people's lives, but if waste is not disposed of properly, the healthcare system may be unintentionally harming people. Sharps waste can injure people that touch it, which not only does physical damage but it can increase the likelihood of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), hepatitis B and C viruses (HBV/HCV), tuberculosis (TB), diphtheria, malaria, syphilis, brucellosis, and other transmissions
(NLM). Infectious waste can get into the body if it is not properly managed. Chemical waste can poison people and may cause injury to the eyes, skin, or mucous membranes of the respiratory tract
(NLM). Cytotoxic waste can accumulate in wildlife and cause alarming symptoms, including spontaneous abortiions during pregnancy and malformations [seen] among children of females with a history of occupational exposure to anticancer medications
(NLM). Radioactive waste can cause tissue destruction and even fatality in more extreme cases. In short, exposure to healthcare waste is dangerous, so we must limit this amount of waste for our safety and health.
References: earthday.org, EPA (Plastic Waste), NRDC, Boston University, European Parliament, World Health Organization, Geneva Environmental Network, EPA (E-Waste), National Library of Medicine (NLM), EPA (Reducing Waste), Addison County, Vermont
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