It is everywhere and inevitable. There is no way out of this one, but there are ways around it; alternatives. Want to take a guess? Waste waste waste. We produce it either externally or internally. What I mean by this is that we either produce it as natural human waste or from the necessary and unnecessary products we use.
With a growing world population, there will only be more waste. I believe that we cannot just wait for others to deal with all that waste and see what happens to it. We have the responsibility to change the quantity of waste that goes into our ecosystem, either by landfills or incinerators. We, individuals, are the bosses of consumerism.
Visiting SORPA, the recycling company in the capital of Iceland was mind boggling. One can imagine how much waste we make and how corporations go about handling it and what not, but when one sees it in front of their eyes, it is a whole different story. The smell and quantity are out of our imagination. I enjoyed learning all that SORPA is doing and their hopeful plans for the future. All of their vehicles that pick up and take waste somewhere are fueled by methane. Timber is sorted and then sent somewhere to be used in production instead of extracting more from the Earth. The Good Shepherd project they run is an open market for used household goods; the profits made from the sales is donated to charity organizations. They are also highly involved with schools to take upon all recycling programs and educate the future generations on such topic. Furthermore, the bio-methane that they receive from the landfill site is then used as fuel, and then sold to fuel stations. After having visited SORPA and experience the reality of our waste face to face, I have began investigating more where my waste goes in my living area and what are all of the alternative ways I can go about living my life and all of the ways I can reduce my waste. It is much simpler than some might think.
I suggest you research where your waste is going, how it is getting there, what are they doing with it, and all that you can read about your waste disposal. Also, have fun with creating and going about your alternatives methods to reduce your waste 🙂
A very small section of SORPA’s main waste management center.
Angelica