Waste sorting is a problem for our country. Many would be happy to contribute to the improvement of the environment, but simply do not know where to start. After all, you don’t want to waste your life on endless sorting through bottles, candy wrappers and waste paper, especially if there is one huge garbage container in the yard, in which - sort it or not sort it - everything adds up. But something can still be done.
Program minimum
Like any good habit, the habit of sorting garbage should be developed gradually. It is not necessary to immediately start 15 different containers and spend evenings sorting through household waste, lovingly transferring them from one drawer to another - this is for the advanced.
First of all, it is important to understand that most of what we call garbage, garbage, strictly speaking, is not and does not pose a danger to the environment. Food leftovers, paper and cardboard, cellophane (not to be confused with polyethylene) and wood are safe waste. Putting them in one pile, you will be wasteful (after sorting, they could be of great use), but you will not harm nature. This garbage is not dangerous for humans, animals and plants, because, decomposing, this garbage will not poison water sources and soil.
Batteries and accumulators, expired medicines, paint and varnish products, car tires, polyethylene, mercury lamps and thermometers are quite another matter. These items should never be simply thrown into the trash can. Just one battery will poison 20 m² of land and about 400 liters of water. A mercury thermometer contains 1-2 grams of mercury, the fumes of which are dangerous to all living things. If the thermometer is broken, the concentration of this poisonous substance in the room will exceed the permissible norm by 1000 times.
Such waste cannot be recycled at all, they are destroyed at a special plant. In almost every more or less large city there is a collection point for such waste, and given that we do not throw away 50-60 batteries and one and a half hundred batteries every day, once a year we can collect everything that has accumulated and take it there. Over time, the idea will strengthen in my head that sorting garbage is as simple and routine as brushing your teeth or shoes. Then you can already move on to the next stage.
Everything is in business
Waste paper, glass containers, scrap metal, plastic are waste that not only can and should be sorted, but for which money is even paid. Of course, 10-20 rubles are crumbs nowadays, but the very fact that garbage has some value suggests that it has a future. This future is to become a secondary raw material from which new products will then be made. For example, to make paper, you do not need to re-cut the forest, it is enough to recycle waste paper. Thus, in the case of waste paper, it indirectly solves not one, but two problems: landfills and cutting down the main natural wealth of our country.
Of the metals, aluminum is the most valuable. It can be recycled endlessly. This resource will never end, unless, of course, it is properly disposed of and, in the literal sense, this wealth is not buried back into the ground, from where it was once mined.
Open secrets from the world of garbage
And finally, if sorting garbage has already become a part of your life, you are ready to learn a few secrets of the universe.
Here are the general rules for sorting recyclables:
- store organic waste and recyclables in separate bags;
- rinse the container from food debris, remove the label, cover;
- flatten tetra packs, metal cans, twist plastic bottles - so they take up less space;
- assemble plastic covers separately.
- free the collected paper from paper clips, staples and ropes. Do not tear waste paper - this spoils its structure and reduces the quality of the output raw materials. Better compress, so it takes up less space.
Without doing all this, you will ruin your sorting work, because in a dirty and, as they say, “unsorted” form, waste for processing will not be accepted from you.
Moreover, some waste is “disguised” as recyclable, when in fact it is not. For example, self-adhesive paper, cigarette packs, photographs, used wallpaper, store receipts, transport tickets (soaked in wax), disposable paper utensils (covered with plastic wrap) should not be thrown into waste paper.
Even more fun with plastic. This type of waste is very important to recycle https://www.ourgreenstreets.org/org/harrow-household-recycling-centre/, because it is used everywhere, and it takes 100 to 400 years to decompose. This means that the discarded bottle will rot, at best, in the lifetime of our children. It is also impossible to burn plastic, because this releases toxic substances that are harmful to people and animals.
Comments