Paper is the leading material found in
our
This beach
is covered with fast food wrappers,
garbage
tires,
bottles, and cans
Here are two
pictures of trash that was carelessly thrown
on the side of a scenic road
Is this something you want to see in your community?
Not me.
~*The Waste Management companies
often say that recycling costs too much to enforce but this is expected
when they would lose money for putting effort towards re-using
materials. They also claim they cannot provide the services to collect
both recyclable materials and trash.
~*Peter
Grogan, the President
of the National Recycling Coalition states "rural communities provide
garbage collection, fire protection and mail service economically; its
a fallacy to argue that they can't provide recycling services. In fact,
there are trucks on the market right now that are specifically designed
to provide combined recycling and trash collection for rural areas..." The
CQ Researcher • March 20, 1992
There are many
solutions to the problem but making any of them successful enough to
make a difference is the challenge. Nevertheless, something needs to be
done in order to ensure the health of Americans in the near future.
~*One idea I believe could work is
hiring people who are in major need of a job and are unemployed and pay
them to sort
through trash to collect the excess bottles, cans and paper that can be
re-used.
- Offering jobs to those in desperate
need of one will not only decrease the unemployment rate but will help
to keep recycling a big part of the collection process.
- It will benefit families who just
do not have the money to even put food on the table.
- Adding
new jobs to the workforce will boost the economy in that sales will go
up for equipment needed for the workers.
- Illegal immigrants are
being allowed to stay in the United States by President Bush if they
are performing the jobs no one else wants.
~*
Environmentalists say if Americans simply buy less and reuse what they
already have, the United States would not be one of the most wasteful
countries in the world.
~*Residents of Carroll County
have experienced the negative effects of all the litter and trash
piling up alongside the road. Some make an effort to clean up the
mess but in just days, it is back to the unpleasing sight of garbage.
The motivation is very weak when the work done does not seem to be
making an effect since people continue to through trash out the
window. The
Gazette
~*There are laws that fine
people who litter on public streets but how much are they being
enforced? How can enforcements give drivers a ticket if they have to
witness it happening? There are no cameras to catch them in the act so
unless a police officer sees them discarding trash our of their car, it
seems to have little effect.
~*Recycling
has become easier since 1988 since consumers do not have to bring in
their recyclable materials to the facilities, they can put it by the
road alongside their trash. Even though this may seem simple, many
families do not take part in the collection program.
~* In
1995, "prices
for recycled newsprint sank so low that some contractors simply dumped
the paper they collected in landfills" The CQ Researcher
• March 27, 1998 • Volume 8, Number 12
~*
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) explains that not all of the
landfills where the waste is put today will be available in the next
couple of decades. This means there will be so much garbage filling the
landfill that they will have to open new ones, which could affect the
people in the communities around it.
~* If the United States does
not devise a plan that is faster at producing a visible result, it may
be too late and become a huge health issue.
Imagine
having a beautiful field by your home turned into a landfill and
covered with trash when some of that could have been
reused or recycled.
Want
to learn more? Click on the picture below.
Or search for articles at:
Four pounds
of
trash is produced by every single American each day. (Mostly paper and
cardboard)
