Creating waste is something inevitable for humans. In fact, one can say that it is already their second nature. However, this would not have been the case if the human race did not invent permanent wastes in the first place.
Solid and liquid wastes, organic wastes, hazardous wastes, and even recyclable rubbish—all of these wastes have caused detrimental impacts to the environment. While most of these effects are irreversible, some can still see hope that the effects of wastes can still be alleviated. And one of which includes proper waste disposal.
In this article, let us learn more about waste disposal and how wastes negatively impact the environment. In addition, we will also look into how proper waste disposal can benefit the environment in many ways you can think of.
What Is Proper Waste Disposal?
Proper waste disposal entails proper waste segregation and composting. Before you throw all your rubbish, make sure you segregated recyclables from other wastes. The remaining wastes will then be further categorised into organic waste, inorganic waste, and non-recyclables. The organic wastes can then be repurposed as compost.
Improper waste disposal poses harm to public health and, most importantly, the environment. No matter what type it may be, wastes must be regulated from the time it is generated until its disposal to a facility. Otherwise, it will break down into detrimental substances that put the environment in danger.
With all the amount of waste generated by individuals per day, this makes waste disposal a hurdle that is difficult to overcome. It especially gets more challenging if there are no existing laws or regulations on how to manage it.
How Wastes Negatively Impact the Environment
It is common knowledge that the rubbish we generate has always caused environmental problems. The problems get even worse as humans keep producing wastes that are permanent and unsustainable. As a result, it aggravates the current climate crisis, affects biodiversity, and endanger the human race.
1. Climate Change
Climate change manifests in the changes in weather patterns, increase in ocean level, melting of ice sheets, and so on.
Wastes significantly contribute to the worsening climate, and its impact is on a gradual basis. You can say that the Earth used to die a slow, painful death, but it’s already going at a fast rate in this day and age.
Among the ways wrongly disposed of wastes contribute are the harmful gases generated from landfills and the burning of rubbish. The emissions of this irresponsible waste management are the culprit that is continuously heating the planet. Furthermore, these damaging releases pose a high risk to our atmosphere, and all these changes will result in drastic changes in our climate.
2. Affected Biodiversity
The wild and plant life are disrupted because of improper waste management and the constant production of various wastes.
It affects the animals in a way that they intake some of these wastes, specifically non-biodegradable like plastics, as food. This leads to diseases that will most likely result in death. Aquatic life is also greatly affected by the wastes that are directly thrown into the oceans. Apart from ingestion, marine animals starve and get strangled to death.
The plant life is also affected because once these wastes break down, it seeps into the soil and contaminates it in the process. Once the soil is contaminated, it affects the growth of the plant and eventually the animals that feed on it.
3. Human Health Hazards
It seems like we forgot that we only have one and sure habitable planet to live in with the way we keep on generating wastes. On top of that, there are still many who do not practise proper waste management. The more we keep on doing this, the more we fail to make the Earth a sustainable place for future generations to live in.
All these wastes will also cause various infectious diseases caused by breaking down these wastes and the bacteria and vermin living off of these areas.
How Proper Waste Disposal Benefits the Environment
Waste disposal is an everyday part of our life that we seem to forget how our observance of proper disposal can positively impact the environment. That said, we have listed six ways how our actions can contribute to maintaining a healthy and sustainable environment.
1. It improves air and water quality.
Clean air and water are indispensable elements of our lives that contribute to our survival. Unfortunately, if an improper waste pollution problem persists, it can cause detrimental effects on air and water quality.
Once the wastes break down in the landfills where they are dumped, it gets deep down the soil that will contaminate groundwater, and emit toxic gases to pollute the air.
2. It helps reduce greenhouse gases.
Since proper waste disposal helps improve air and water quality, it can also help reduce the emissions of greenhouse gas into the environment. One of the greenhouse gases that contribute to climate change is methane from decomposed food wastes in landfills.
According to Foodbank Australia, Australian households throw away about 2.5 million tonnes of edible food were collected from Australian households. And guess where all these food wastes go? The landfills.
If only food wastes are managed well before they reach landfills, it decreases methane emissions. One of the ways to manage food wastes is through composting, a biological process that involves the breakdown of food waste into the simplest components.
3. It decreases the need for constant energy consumption.
If you sort and categorise recyclable and non-recyclable wastes, you can reduce the need for corporations to manufacture new materials.
You can either do recycling on your own or transport recyclables to recycling centres where they will repurpose them. You can also opt to have the initiative and do the recycling on your own at the comfort of your home.
4. It protects the health of humans and animals alike.
Both humans and animals alike depend on the environment to survive. This is where they get food, water, and the very air they breathe. If the environment is protected, this would only mean that the health of the general human and animal population is also covered.
One of the most significant benefits of proper waste disposal is the protection of the environment and the health of the overall population. When the waste is recycled, it then becomes into useful materials that can be repurposed again.
5. It lessens the amount of waste thrown into landfills.
Do you know that landfills are among the top contributors to the worsening climate change? Through proper waste management and disposal, the amount of rubbish thrown straight into landfills is decreased.
When the waste is disposed of efficiently, the least amount of rubbish will reach the landfill. As a result, it decreases the production of harmful substances and gases that can further cause damage to the environment.
6. It avoids the proliferation of diseases in the environment.
Waste, especially those that have already been broken down, are an excellent breeding area for bacteria. Once these reach the nearby households, they can cause infectious diseases that can result in incurable illnesses and eventually, death.
Sydney City Rubbish: Your Responsible Waste Disposal Partner
The government is responsible for regulating proper waste management. They create policy frameworks that aim to manage wastes in their locality. However, individuals and private companies must also manage wastes properly and not depend on the government alone.
This is when the role of full-service rubbish removal companies enters. At Sydney City Rubbish, we carry out responsible waste disposal services and practices that conform to local regulations. We are also partnering with waste sorting and recycling centres to ensure your wastes are further sorted so that they won’t go straight to landfills.
If you want to get a free quote from us, visit https://www.sydneycityrubbish.com.au/book-a-quote. Should you wish to call us right away, give us a ring on (02) 9114 9727 today.
