DESCRIBE THE ENVIRONMENTAL PROBLEM THAT CONCERNS YOU

One of the most common outcomes of daily human activity is the production of waste. This waste
can range from common everyday waste and food leftovers to residual and hazardous waste
generated by manufacturing. Its disposal has become a multi-billion-dollar industry.

Modern Sanitary Landfills must meet a strict set of engineering standards and criteria as part of
their construction. However, each of these engineered systems can malfunction or breakdown
which then leads to environmental problems.

Landfills have led to some of the most heated, acrimonious battles over pollution in the public
commons that have ever been seen.

The environmental problems caused by landfills are numerous. There are no arguments over the
assertion that there are many things that contribute to the environmental problem of landfills. The
negative effects are most commonly placed into two distinct categories: atmospheric effects and
hydrological effects. While these effects are both of equal importance, the specific factors that
drive them are important to understand on an individual basis.

EXPLAIN WHY YOU ARE ARGUING FOR IMMEDIATE ACTION

Drastic effects of landfills

Atmospheric Effects: methane and carbon dioxide are the major gases produced and make up to
90 to 98% of landfill gas. Nitrogen, oxygen, ammonia, sulfides, hydrogen and various other gases
are also produced in small volumes. Gases can be a problem for upwards of 50 years.

The mixture of chemicals like bleach and ammonia in landfills can produce toxic gases and odor
that can significantly impact the quality of air in the vicinity of the landfill.

Landfill gases do not remain on-site. When released in the air, gases find their way into homes and
other buildings through windows and doors,

Besides odor, landfill gases can also impact health causing problems that can be acute or chronic.

Aside from the various types of gases that can be created by these landfills, dust and other forms
of non-chemical contaminants can make their way into the atmosphere.

Hydrological Effects: Landfills also create a toxic soup of industrial and home-cleaning chemicals.
People throw away everything from industrial solvents to household cleaners in landfills, and
these chemicals accumulate and mix over time and cause water pollution.

Groundwater contamination: leachates from landfills can have heavy metals like "lead, barium,
chromium, cobalt, and nickel," as well as organic compounds like "bisphenol A, pharmaceuticals,
pesticides, disinfectants, and fire retardants." These can enter the soil and into the groundwater
contaminating it.
Surface water pollution - leachates from landfills have polluted rivers and other surface water
sources.

Additional Landfill Environmental Problems

Emissions and water contamination are not the only types of problems associated with landfills. A
closer look can show why so many much needed changes are so difficult to come by.

Decomposition: Sometimes, landfills are covered with earth, seeded with grass, and transformed
into recreational areas. The management of gases coming out of these sites is a constant issue and
creates an ongoing cost despite the new facade of the landfill. Decomposition occurs slowly in the
absence of oxygen. Some natural products like fruits and vegetables will decompose within weeks
while items like Styrofoam can take over a million years to decompose.

Effect on Wildlife: birds like storks and mammals like grizzly bear are getting attracted to
uncovered landfills because of the quantities of waste food usually found in them. These animals
are changing long established behavior, with storks giving up migration to stay and feed on
landfills. Human food is not always suitable for animals and they could suffer from food poisoning
through eating bad or spoiled food.

Landfill Fires: Landfill gases, and the sheer amount of landfill waste, can easily ignite a fire. Fires
can be difficult to put out and contribute to the pollution of the air and water. They can also
potentially destroy habitats nearby if not controlled soon enough. The most flammable gas that is
most commonly produced by landfills is methane, which is highly combustible.

Climate Change: Methane and carbon dioxide produced in landfills are greenhouse gases leading
to global warming.

RECOMMEND APPROPRIATE MEASURES TO RECTIFY THE SITUATION

In light of the deleterious effects of landfills, it is necessary to reduce their numbers and the
amount of waste in landfills. This needs individual action, government policies, and private
enterprises.

Design and implementation of integrated waste management: The construction of modern

landfills with well-engineered and managed disposal facilities can significantly lessen the impacts
of landfill on soil, air, and water.

Increase Recycling and Composting: The waste that is recycled by each person has nearly doubled,
and the amount composted is four times more than in the 1990s. Most of the waste in landfills can
be easily recycled at the household level. Increasing recycling and composting further to reduce
the amounts that end in landfills requires individual action as well as adequate and efficient
collection and processing of segregated waste by the government, and industry
Recycle, Re-use, and reduce: Landfill management will always remain a major environmental if
communities don’t embrace the need of recycling, reducing and reuse. The increased demand of
manufactured products is what increases the final waste products that end up in the landfill. In
this view, the use of recycling systems for electronic wastes, plastics, paper, metal, glass and other
non-biodegradable materials can provide an effective means of reducing the landfill effects.

Reducing our demand for manufactured products and embracing re-use can equally favor
reduction to both the toxicity and volume of waste that end up in the landfill as waste. People
have no option but to embrace the art of using manufactured products to the end of their useful
life. These can be split into the following simple steps:

Respect the planet: A deep gratitude and recognition of how beautiful the planet is, including the
interdependence of living and non-living things will help us exploit the planet positively while also
giving it time to flourish and rejuvenate.

Rethink our consumption needs: After huge purchases, we find out that most of the products
don’t make us as happy as we thought they would. In going about our life experiences, we should
reconsider our consumption habits and also buy what we think is necessary and useful for the
betterment of both our well-being and nature.

Reduce wastage: Spending our money on things we don’t need drains our wallets and destroys our
environment because of waste accumulation. Only spending on what is needed saves out planet
and keeps it environmentally friendly. Furthermore, it contributes to a cleaner and more efficient
environment since it establishes the need for meaningful production and distribution of
manufactured products.

Reuse products: Reusing the products that we have already bought keeps them away from the
landfill. We can buy used items from internet sites like E-bay, second-hand stores, garage sales, or
otherwise donate the items that we don’t use.

Recycle materials: Recycling is one of the best solutions for landfill management. Materials such as
plastics, cans, paper and glass can be recycled.

As recycling technologies and programs grow the need for these types of landfills should diminish.
However, one should note that economic incentives generated by waste disposal will continue to
be a major factor for construction of these landfills worldwide.

While it is not possible to eliminate the garbage coming out of a household, there are definitely
steps that anyone can take to at least mitigate the amount of trash they produce. Simple ways to
protect the environment can be integrated into daily life to lessen personal impact. Not all positive
environmental steps need to be huge ones. Many small steps can often amount to a large move
forward, and there are certainly a few things that everyone can change to become less wasteful.

Thank you for time and consideration. I look forward to hearing from you in due course.

Yours faithfully,

Carlos A. Carranza Bolívar