Landfills
are filled with millions of items that could be re-purposed or recycled.
Recycling helps the environment. When products are recycled, fewer resources
are used, green house gas emissions are reduced and less space is used in
landfills. The majority of items that end up in landfills should not be thrown
away. Here are three items that should never get thrown out.
Empty Ink Cartridges
Empty
ink cartridges should not be thrown away. The cartridges put an unnecessary
burden on landfills and have a detrimental effect on the environment. Ink
cartridges are not biodegradable. It can take hundreds of years for one ink
cartridge to break down in a landfill. Also, ink cartridges also have the
possibility of leaking ink and polluting the soil. Reusing cartridges decreases
the amount of materials used to create them. It takes about three quarts of oil
to make one printer cartridge. Many places, like office supply stores, will
take used cartridges. Some businesses offer incentives to people that recycle
cartridges.
Plastic Shopping Bags
Plastic
shopping bags clutter most homes. While they are convenient, the environmental
damage they cause far exceeds any benefits from using them. Plastic bags end up
in landfills and take hundreds of years to decompose. If the trash is burned,
the burning plastic releases toxic fumes into the atmosphere. Plastic bags also
harm animals. They bags are often mistaken for foods and result in the death of
hundreds of animals each year. The best alternative to plastic bags is
switching to reusable totes. Finding different uses for the plastic bags is
another way to prevent them from ending up in a landfill.
Disposable Plates and Cups
Again,
these products are convenient and harmful. Disposable plates and cups are often
used at parties because they can be thrown away afterwards. Unfortunately,
these items have an impact on the health of the water, land and air when they
are thrown away. It takes less energy to clean and reuse a plate or cup than it
does to make one. To reduce the reliance on disposable products, use reusable
ones. Reusable cups and plates are available in a variety of easy-to-clean
materials like glass and stone. Not only will using these items help the
environment, they are a more economical option.
Landfills
contain many items that should not be thrown away. A lot of the garbage in
landfills can have a second life by being re-purposed or recycled. The harm
that the environment sustains can be greatly reduced by limiting the amount of
garbage that ends up in landfills.
Lyndsi
Decker is a freelance writer. At the moment she is promoting storage
units Santa Maria as well as self
storage
Troy. She is a mother of two and enjoys blogging about healthy
living and the environment.
