There are two major ecological problems with the excess of garbage
on our planet. The first is the dumping of pollutants in our oceans.
If you don't think it's an ecological problem just because you can't see it, then
you might as well be an Ostrich, sticking your head into the sand.
Two thirds of the major cities in the world are situated along coasts,
and millions of people vacation at shorelines. Pollution from developed
areas drains into the ocean killing marine life, threatens human health,
causes toxic algae blooms, and forces beach closures. If you think
that this isn't true, do some of you own research and see how many
beaches are open in your area. Try any beach around Lake Ontario just
for starters.
The second excess garbage problem is landfills. There are over 3,091 active landfills and over 10,000 old municipal landfills the U.S., according to the Environmental Protection Agency. While Methane emissions from landfills account for 2.9 per cent of Canada’s total greenhouse gas emissions and 25 million tonnes of waste still go to Canadian landfills each year. European countries have already faced landfill restrictions and high tipping fees.
This problem is not going to go away, we have to do more
than just recycle, we have to reduce the waste dramatically and find
better ways of disposing of the millions of tons of trash we create
each year. Each person makes about 5 pounds of garbage per day or1,680
pounds per year. Now times that by 7 billion, and you have a truly
overwhelming amount of waste.
Recent environmental products and packaging help to reduce
the amount of waste and toxins in our landfills and oceans, but it's
not near enough to turn the ecological tide. The only solution may
be to rocket our refuse into outer space and hope that it doesn't
knock an asteroid into our path. Unless of course, we are willing
to also reduce our population through the use of birth control. My
main underlying point in every story that I write is always that reducing
population will solve most of our ecological problems, as long as
we're not already too late.
By: Mick |
