Great Green Idea: Green Living: How a Visit to the Dump Can You Live Green

How a Visit to the Dump Can You Live Green

For most people, they have not visited a landfill site where the trash every one of us produces is being dump. Most of us only witness the front end of our trash collection system where trucks pick up the trash everyday from house to house. In our own household, we know there is a pile of trash we produce each day. For us, this is often a sore to the eyes and this also emits a strong, bad odor. Now imagine these a million times fold! A landfill is the final stage of our trash collection system and is a site where the trash we produce is being buried. This is the final destination for the tons of trash we produce on a daily basis.

Schedule a trip to a landfill or dump site if you have not been to one yet. The trip will open your eyes to the reality that we have long been irresponsible in terms of waste disposal that is has taken its toll on our environment. In a dumpsite with piles and piles of trash before your eyes and the putrid smell that welcomes you there will really knock some sense into your head that something needs to be done to solve the problem of pollution and improper waste disposal. The mounds of trash that are buried in these landfills can harm the environment as well as waste resources especially if they are not segregated properly. Recyclable materials that end up in landfills are wasted since these can still be recycled and reuse to save precious resources. Non-biodegradable wastes take a long time to decompose and these can pollute the environment as well as damage the soil. In addition to that, these can also contaminate the ground water.

You can invite family and friends to come along with you and share this eye-opening experience. After your visit to a dumpsite or landfill site, reflect from it. Take time to think about the things that you can do to help solve this problem. Then start a plan and put it into action.

You can start by practicing proper waste management. Segregate your wastes in order to facilitate their proper disposal. Put designated waste bins for biodegradable, non-biodegradable, and recyclable wastes. Invite your family, friends, and neighbors to participate in your proper waste management activity so they too can help save the environment in their own little ways.