Impact of human activities on the environment - Cont’d

HELLO AGAIN, students. How are you this week? I hope that things have been going well for you and that you are keeping up with your work. Remember, if you allow one day to pass without doing some work, you will fall behind, so keep at it!

Last week, we began our look at what we can do in order to manage the environment so that the resources that are there are conserved for the use of our generation and those of the future. Three words all beginning with the letter ‘R’ were introduced. Do you remember what these are? Of course you do; they are reuse, reduce and recycle. We also looked at the average make-up of household waste; think about the things that your family puts into the garbage and you will see that those would all be accounted for in the pie chart given last week.

Let us look now at those three ‘Rs’. Below is one of the symbols used in conservation. Notice the arrows and the use of the three words: reuse, reduce and recycle.

The effectiveness of any conservation programme depends on persuading individuals to take responsibility for all of their activities that would impact the environment in a negative way, e.g., walk more, drive less, reduce their use of plastics, recycle anything that can be recycled, and consume less.

REUSE

Doing this is quite simple; do not throw away something that can be put to some other use. Some materials can be reused, e.g., tins, jars, bottles. These can be reused in their original forms, while others are reused in different forms. For example, organic material, old newspapers and grass clippings can be used to generate compost, which can be used as a natural fertilizer and soil conditioner.

REDUCE

We can reduce our use of materials that contribute to landfills by changing our buying patterns and our lifestyle habits. Think about the last time you bought something at the store. What did you use? What did you put in the garbage? Do we really need all that packaging on the things we buy? Some industralised countries agree with this and have passed laws to support reduction in the use of certain products/materials in order to reduce the quantity of waste generated each year. In Jamaica, certain large supermarkets have introduced the use of reusable shopping bags to discourage the use of plastic shopping bags. These plastic bags accumulate in landfills because they do not decompose readily, and they also get washed into rivers and seas, where they affect marine life.

RECYCLE

This is defined as the collection of waste by separating them into types and remaking them into new products. Some recycling processes reuse materials to make the same product, e.g., old aluminium cans and glass bottles are recycled and recast in to new cans and bottles; paper can also be collected and processed rather than being manufactured from new trees. Other processes use the recycled materials to make new ones, e.g., old tyres are reprocessed and used to surface roads, and steel cans are used in car manufacture. Like any other process, there are advantages and disadvantages to recycling. We will spend some time looking at these.

ADVANTAGES OF RECYCLING

Reduces the depletion of resources, e.g., trees used to make paper and bauxite used to make alumina. These result in the destruction of habitats for wildlife and lead eventually to a reduction in biodiversity.

Reduces the need for landfills as less waste is generated. Reduces the pollution of soil and water. Pollutants produced as a result of extraction processes can be reduced or eliminated.

Reduces the generation of toxic waste. Many smelters produce waste which can help to destroy the environment. Reduces the harm done to wildlife.

Recycling of materials to produce new ones uses less energy than creating from the ore/original raw

material.

DISADVANTAGES OF RECYCLING

It is tedious and time-consuming to sort waste.

Requires separate containers for different materials. Recycle bins must be placed at strategic places where everyone can get to them.

Requires public education. It involves having people taking responsibility for their own waste rather than just disposing of it in the bin.

Requires government input.

Requires large amounts of storage space, which may not be readily available. Requires transport to take waste to recycling factories.

May require sponsorship in order to be able to operate. In Jamaica, one drink manufacturing company used to offer incentives to schools for the collection of plastic bottles.

See you next week as we continue our study. Take care!

Monacia Williams is an independent contributor. Send questions and comments to kerry-ann.hepburn@gleanerjm.com

“The greatest threat to our environment is the belief that someone else will save it.”

– Robert Swan