Though the simplistic words reduce, recycle, and reuse, are a part of most American citizens’ vocabulary and the tasks themselves may seem even arbitrary to some, the obligation to reduce, recycle, and reuse is detrimental to the stability of our nation and the planet. For the majority that has heard of the waste hierarchy, reduce, recycle, and reuse, and know the basics of what it is, I doubt that many of us give a second thought to the catastrophic effects that are stealthily rendering our plant uninhabitable. The first crucial steps for fighting the wastefulness of not reducing and the refrainment from not reusing materials, that are deemed “garbage,” have already been initiated. The already commenced steps being, there are organizations that allow people and corporations to recycle materials to be reused. The next step that needs to be taken is for universities, corporations, and cities to take the initiative to perform the combination of the following two options. The disposal of “trash” must be sorted into groups of reusable and/or hazardous materials to be recycled and the non-reusable, decomposable, and nonhazardous material to be put into landfills and/or compost piles, and the reduction of wastefulness such as our main culprit the waste of energy. Many universities, companies, and cities have taken the leadership in making their infrastructure a “greener,” a less wasteful, environment. Though there are many universities, companies, and cities that are going green in other countries around the world and many, internationally and nationally, that are not going green; the main focus on only the universities, companies, and cities that are in the United States that are going green will create a better appreciation for the U...
... middle of paper ...
...es and Universities | Grist." Grist | Environmental News,
Commentary, Advice. 10 Aug. 2007. Web. 25 Mar. 2011.
.
"Factsheet: Biodiesel Program at a Glance." Loyola University Chicago. Web. 26
Mar. 2011. .
"Green Rankings: 2010 Full Methodology - Newsweek." Newsweek - National
News, World News, Business, Health, Technology, Entertainment, and More - Newsweek. 18 Oct. 2010. Web. 25 Mar. 2011. .
Smells Like Biodiesel. Dir. TJ Berden. Center for Urban Environmental
Research & Policy- Biodiesel Program. Web.
.
Waste Management – Trash Removal, Garbage Collection, Recycling and
Dumpster Rentals. Web. 13 Mar. 2011. .
The Economist. The Economist Newspaper, 20 Oct. 2010. Web. The Web. The Web.
New York Times - Breaking News, World News & Multimedia. 11 Jan. 2010. Web. 19 May 2010.
The New York Times. The New York Times, 15 Aug. 2013. Web. The Web.
Washington Times - Politics, Breaking News, US and World News. 6 Jan. 2010. Web. 16
New York Times. The New York Times Company, 23 Jan. 2010. Web. 22 Jan. 2014.
Chron.com. N.p., n.d. Web. The Web. The Web. 12 Feb. 2014.
The New York Times. The New York Times Company, 1 July 2011. Web. 21 Aug. 2012.
Florida International University recognizes its contribution to the accumulation of waste considering that it produces about seven million pounds of waste each year (Figueroa, 2010). Unlike other universities that still remain adamant in investing on green practices, FIU has, “governed by the State of Florida under Florida Statute 403.714 and The Florida Solid Waste Management Act of 1988” (FIU, 2011), established its own internal ‘green machine’ or solid waste and environmental protection system via the FIU Custodial Services Office. The university’s efforts in ensuring efficient solid waste management even “far exceeds the minimum standards” (FIU, 2011) required by law. What makes the solid waste management efforts of the university one-of-a kind is the establishment of a “single stream recycling program which means that all recyclable items can be placed into one bin and do not have to be sorted” (FIU, 2011). Nevertheless, despite the use of single recycle bins, proper labeling has to accompany each bin to ensure that only materials that are recyclable are placed in the bins. There are also different sized of bins which are placed stra...
Huffington Post, 2013. http://huffingtonpost.com/ Web. The Web. The Web. 29 Nov 2013.
For most of America, recycling has become a way of life. For some, it is a valiant effort to take charge of our waste and do what is right for the environment and for future generations. For others, it is a forced mentality by government agencies or private businesses who attempt to prove their value by self-promoting their commitment to environmental responsibility. Recycling, in theory, is a positive effort; however, massive recycling programs are not the answer. Recycling programs in general lack an intelligent way to a means, since the costs and environmental burden may outweigh the desired result. Recyclers should only focus on materials that they can process in a cost effective way, and consumers should focus
Waste Not, Want Not: if you use a resource carefully and without extravagance, you will never be in need. In a 2009 essay, “Waste Not, Want Not”, writer Bill McKibben argues on the excess of unnecessary waste. To halt climate change, he proposes to convince the reader to shift priorities in waste management and go back to the frugality of simpler times. Bill approaches his argument with a vast amount of informative charged words to convince the reader into taking his side of the argument. The writer’s intended purpose in writing this piece is to make a statement and develop his argument against the unnecessary waste. To make this argument effective, the writer utilizes logic to persuade the audience with overwhelming data and reason. His primary instrument of choice in this essay is using logically charged words followed by factual evidence to back up his claims. Although his use of emotion and pathos are less obvious, but where used, is effective.
Journal of Public Policy and Marketing 18 (1999): 270. Communication & Mass Media Complete. EBSCO. DePaul Library. 7 Mar. 2008.
Far too many people opt out of recycling; therefore initiatives should not be solely voluntary. Landfills are becoming more full, and air pollution has reached such high levels that there needs to be government mandates to address these serious and on-going issues. Cities such as San Francisco, Pittsburg, San Diego, Seattle, New York, Philadelphia, Connecticut, Florida and Honolulu have enacted mandatory recycling laws mainly due to difficulties in land fillings and dispos...
Policy is needed to regulate which course of action should be taken and how it should be implemented. Because of this, many plans and policies revolving around the management of solid waste have been put in place. Sometimes however, a particular policy can have its shortfalls, potentially resulting in its negative aspects outweighing the positive ones. According to the Conference Board of Canada Report, “Canadians dispose of more municipal solid waste per capita than any other country” (2013). Solid waste management in particular, involves many aspects, ranging from packaging waste, food waste, etc. (White & Franke 1999), hence, the following analysis revolves around household and commercial waste – referred to as Municipal Solid Waste (White & Franke. 1999) – in the Greater Vancouver Regional District. Municipal waste is a major health and environmental concern as it contributes to numerous problems like habitat destruction, surface groundwater pollution, and other forms of air, soil, and water contamination. Waste disposal methods like incineration create toxic substances, and landfills emit methane, which contributes to global warming. According to the Zero Waste Objective Report, “The impact of climate change and the increasing awareness of the role of “waste” and “wasting” in the production of greenhouse gas emissions is a constant environmental pressure… (2009). This leads to an increasing limitation of government to prevent and control the volume and toxicity of products in the waste stream and a growing need to shift responsibility to the product manufacturer.
The United States produces “about 8.25 billion tons of solid wastes each year” (Russell 1). People do not realize the impact they have on our planet and environment. When people throw anything in the trashcan, they are contributing to the destruction of our planet. The number landfills in the United States are decreasing, but the amount and volume of waste being thrown into the new landfills is increasing (Russell 4). Because of this escalating amount of garbage, Methane which contributes to global warming is an outcome of these landfills (Russell 7). As a result, our planet is suffering because of this epidemic. The garbage being put in the landfills could be recycled, but not enough businesses, ...