What you can do to Reduce

Re-use

- cl Cloth shopping bags instead of plastic ones

- cl Cloth towels, diapers, napkins

- re Rechargeable batteries

Reduce

- lig Light bulbs with long life

- Q Quality, long lasting products

- B Products with multiple uses, minimizing amount of potential trash

- W Water filters

Refuse

- A Avoid buying plastic items (non-biodegradable)

- N Never buy anything involving Styrofoam.

- N Never buy disposable items when reusable products are available

Recycle

- Lo Locate recycling services in your area

- D Donate to thrift stores and charitable organization

- Re Recycle as much as possible, like e-waste

Respond

- W Write and email, or call companies and inform them to go green

- Te Teach others

- In Inform senators or other government officials

Corrupted Landfill

Not only is the lack of recycling alarming, but their are definite problems with our landfill system as well. In the inner workings of the landfills, it is more sinister than one would think, and believe me, a landfill can be sinister. At the bottom of all the waste, there is a thin metal sheet, only about 1/10 inch thick, which is not nearly enough to contain all the trash, through the wear an tear of the harsh weather and leachate. Leachate is basically the liquids from the trash, congregating together on the bottom layer. With enough time, the leachate can leak through the metal sheet, and create a serious hazard. As if that were enough, the companies running the landfills usually locate them near a body of water, and with the leakage, it could turn that water deadly. The companies are smart in their own menacing way. By locating it next to a body of water, detecting the leak is nearly impossible, however it makes cleanup impossible in the process. Their are very few safe landfills, and soon, all safe ones will hazardous, as the average life of a landfill is only about 28 years.

Acting Oragnizations

Citi Bank

-Reducing waste by 40%

-Reducing water usage by 20%

-Reducing Gas emissions by 25%

BMW

-Methane collection

USED FOR:

-Heating water

-Electricity production

Waste Management

-128 million tons of trash handled each year

-Composts

-Recycles

-Combustion

-Methane recovery

-Partnered with EPA

IWSA

-Solves everyday waste disposal challenges

Our Problem

Dear Blog Readers,

• Since the 1960's, waste disposal has been a massive problem in the United States, as well as more locally, even in California. Did you know that according to the California Integrated Waste Management Board 2,900 pounds of garbage are generated each SECOND in california, thats right bloggers, every second. The sad part is, only about 33 percent will be recovered, through recycling, or composting. This leaves a whole 77 percent to be thrown away, to rot and release methane into the atmosphere. The scary part is, thats only in California. There are still 49 states left to consider, some with even more trash in landfills then California. In the south, only about 35 percent of the population is being served by curbside recycling, resulting in about 750 landfills, where as in the North about 85 percent of the population are served curbside recycling, and as a consequence, their are only 180 landfills. There is a direct correlation between the two, curbside recycling, and the amount of landfills, and this association is one that should be educated to others.