We all know how important it is to do our
little bit to help the environment, but it is so much more convenient to
go with the flow and take a "who cares" attitude in today’s
fast-paced lifestyle. After all, the things that are attractive and make
our lives more enjoyable tend to be bad for the environment. If we
become too concerned with this fight to control pollution, we will be
decreasing our level of personal satisfaction.
Nevertheless, if this attitude is not soon changed,
our children will find themselves living in a world that is much
different from that which we know of today.
When we think about waste control, we tend to think of
"garbage dumps" or as they are often referred, "sanitary
landfill sites".
What Goes Into A Sanitary Landfill Site?
A sanitary landfill is where we bury our garbage. The
Sudbury District Regional Landfill Site is located on the outskirts of
Sudbury going towards Coniston.
Statistics from the early 1990's showed that very
little of what was going into landfill sites really needed to be there!
Of the 16 million tonnes that is being thrown away each year, 65% by
weight is paper, leaves, grass clippings and food wastes, all of which
is biodegradable. However, in a landfill, where there is no light or air
and limited moisture, food and yard waste biodegrade slowly, if at all.
Land filled newspapers can still be readable in forty years!
The remaining 35% of our garbage, which is inorganic,
includes glass, metal and plastic, which are well-suited to recycling.
Let’s Fill Those Blue-Boxes
As you can see, landfill sites will soon be filled to
capacity with all of the garbage that is being collected each week from
residences and businesses. We can help prolong the life-time of a
landfill site by doing even more to recycle things like glass, metal and
plastic. The Blue Box has been around for a long time. We see many of
them by the side of the road on garbage days throughout the district.
However, if we were to be consistent about recycling, it is likely that
each household would be able to fill up two blue boxes each week. Our
task it to go out of our way to recycle and use the blue box. If you don’t
see one, ask an attendant. By reducing the 35% of materials that are
taking up unnecessary space at landfill sites, we will be making a large
contribution to the future for our children.
