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One of the main problems facing the environment and human societies is pollution caused by garbage. It is usually identified as garbage only those solid remains that are deposited, better or worse, in landfills. However, garbage is a much broader concept, which has serious consequences for the environment and for the health of humans, animals and plants.
If you want to know a little more about what the garbage pollution, its main causes and consequences, keep reading Green Ecologist because in the following lines we will talk about this topic.
What is garbage pollution
Although when thinking about garbage the first image that comes to mind is that of landfills full of solid waste and of a sufficient size to be seen with the naked eye, the garbage concept it is much broader.
To be exact, garbage would be all those waste produced by human activity that is not managed correctly so that they reincorporate in the environment or in other human activities. Consequently, we can speak of garbage when we talk about physical objects that accumulate in landfills, in cities or in nature, but also when these physical objects release chemical substances that mix in the environment, whether it is the soil like water or air and pollute it.
Likewise, when talking about Pollution by GarbageWe are referring precisely to that, to the pollution that occurs as a result of the presence of these residues of human activity that are not managed effectively so that they do not harm the environment.
For example, here we can see a World Map of garbage in the oceans.
Causes of garbage pollution
The leading cause of trash pollution we found it in a inefficient or no waste management. It must be borne in mind that what causes waste is not the material itself, but the way it is or is not managed. In this way, if we take a piece of paper as an example, it could be garbage or raw material depending on the way it is managed when it is useless and officially becomes waste. In this way, if the paper is deposited in the environment, it will become garbage, contaminating the environment for the entire time that it decomposes. On the contrary, if that same paper is deposited in a recycling container and it is managed properly, instead of being garbage, it will become raw material. In other words, it is not the nature of the materials, but the management that is made of them that defines whether or not a waste becomes garbage.
Likewise, within the causes it is also worth mentioning that current consumerism plays a predominant role. Not because consumerism necessarily implies the generation of garbage, but because, as consumerism increases, there is also a greater amount of waste, and higher amount of waste greater probability that they are not managed properly. In other words, consumerism helps waste management not be adequate, so it can be considered as an indirect cause of pollution by garbage. However, it is essential to clarify that it is the management (good or bad) of the waste that generates the garbage.
Consequences of garbage pollution
The main consequence of garbage contamination implies a health degradation of living beings. It must be taken into account that garbage releases toxic substances into the environment that spread both through the ground, as well as through the water and the air. When these toxic substances come into contact with living beings (be they people, animals or plants), they negatively affect their health.
Likewise, it is also essential to take into account that contamination by garbage has a very important negative impact on the environment from an aesthetic perspective, since it degrades landscapes (both natural and urban), which is also considered one of the main problems caused by garbage pollution today.
Expand this information with this other Green Ecologist article on How pollution affects the environment.
Solutions to garbage pollution
There are different solutions to trash pollution. One of the elements that cannot be ignored is the need to clean and recondition already damaged environments, which implies allocating human and financial resources to carry out these cleanings. However, beyond the curative actions against contamination by garbage, it should also be noted that there are solutions that we can categorize as preventive, and that are intended to avoid or minimize the presence of that contamination by garbage by reducing the amount of garbage that arrives to be released in the environments (natural or urban).
The best means available to act in the prevention of pollution by garbage is the so-called rule of the three r's (3R). The 3Rs of ecology is a rule that directs and limits the way in which human beings have to consume and manage the products we use in our day to day life. It can be applied to any type of consumption and has the ability to reduce consumption (thereby reducing the amount of waste that must be managed), as well as to improve the management of the waste generated.
The 3Rs are, in order: reduce reuse recycle. That is, according to this rule, before consuming we must ask ourselves if we really need it, if not, we reduce it. If, on the contrary, the answer is that we do need it, we go to the next level, which is to reuse. At this level, before consuming a new product, we choose to reuse one that we already have, either because it is in good condition or because an old one can be fixed, so we also avoid increased consumption and we manage to satisfy our needs without problems. Finally, when a product cannot be reduced or reused, that is when we go to the last phase, which would be recycling.
In this way, it is prevented from becoming garbage, since, by recycling it, we convert it into reusable raw material for other human activities. Consequently, by reducing consumption, reusing what we already have available, and recycling waste, we avoid much of the impact due to the quantity and quality of the garbage and, with it, also the pollution that it generates.
If you want to read more articles similar to Garbage pollution: causes and consequences, we recommend that you enter our Pollution category.
