Waste Management

Waste Management:
We humans create such a lot of rubbish! Each household in Britain produces about 1 tone of rubbish every year! Most of this is taken away by dustmen and buried in enormous landfill sites or burned in incinerators - both of these actions can be dangerous for the environment. Is all our rubbish really rubbish? If you think about it, much of what we throw away could be used again. It makes sense to recycle and not just to solve the problem of where to put the rubbish.

Much of our waste is made up of glass, metal, plastic and paper. Our natural resources such as trees, oil, coal and aluminum are used up in enormous amounts to make these products and the resources will one day be completely used up. We must cut down on energy use.Ideas to Help: Sort out your rubbish. Organic matter e.g. potato peelings, left over food, tea leaves etc. can be transferred straight to a compost heap in the garde and used as a good, natural fertilizer for the plants. Aluminium cans, glass bottles and newspapers etc. can be taken to bottle and can banks and wastepaper skips. Find out where they are by asking your local council or library.
1. Use recycled paper to help save trees. Everyone in Britain uses about 6 trees worth of paper every year.
2. Chlorine bleach is usually used to make newspapers and this pollutes rivers. It’s better to use unbleached, recycled paper whenever you can.
3. Take your old clothes to charity shops. Some are sold, others are returned to textile mills for recycling.
4. Try to avoid buying plastic. It's hard to recycle. One way to cut down on plastic is to refuse to use carrier bags offered by supermarkets and use strong, long lasting shopping bags instead, or re-use plastic bags over and over again, until they wear out.
5. Don't buy over-packed goods. Many things we buy have unnecessary amounts of plastic and paper around them.
Pollution Management:
The air, water and soil of habitats all over the world have been, and are still being, polluted in many different ways. This pollution affects the health of living things. Air is damaged by car and lorry fumes, and power stations create acid rain which destroys entire forests and lakes. When fossil fuels i.e. oil, gas and coal are burned to provide energy for lighting, cooking etc. they form polluting gases.Oils spills pollute sea water and kill marine life; chemical waste from factories and sewage works, and artificial fertilizers from farm land, pollute river water, killing wildlife and spreading disease.The careless or deliberate dumping of litter in the environment is not only unsightly but dangerous too.
Ideas to Help
1. Use less energy by switching off lights when rooms are not in use, not wasting hot water, not over heating rooms and not boiling more water than necessary when making a cup of tea!
2. Use a bicycle or walk instead of using a car for short trips.
3. If you spot pollution, such as oil on the beach, report it to the local council. If you suspect a stream is polluted, report it to the local Environmental Health Officer.
4. If you use chlorine-based bleach or detergents containing phosphates you are contributing to water pollution. Try to buy 'environmentally-friendly' products.

The Ozone Layer Protection:
Fifteen to thirty miles above the Earth lies the stratosphere, a broad band of gases and one of these gases is ozone. It's only a small part of the stratosphere but very important because it prevents too many of the sun's ultra violet rays from reaching us. Too many ultra violet rays can give us skin cancer and destroy plankton, the important microscopic life in the sea. In the 1980s it was discovered that 'holes' were appearing in the ozone layer above the Antarctic and Arctic. CFCs, chlorofluorocarbons, gases used in the manufacture of aerosols and fridges, are believed to be responsible for destroying the ozone layer.

Ideas to Help

1. Don't buy aerosols containing CFCs. Actually; it's not a good idea to buy any aerosols. Even 'ozone friendly' aerosols may contain harmful chemicals and spray cans are difficult to dispose of - they cannot be recycled. Pump-action sprays are a much better alternative.
2. A lot of packaging e.g. fast-food cartons are polystyrene 'blown' with CFCs. Try to avoid items packed with this polystyrene.
3. If you know of anyone getting rid of an old fridge, tell them that the CFCs can be drained out and recycled - contact the local council and they will dispose of the fridge safely. New fridges can be bought with less CFCs in them.
Certain gases in the atmosphere, mainly carbon dioxide, methane and CFCs, act like the glass in a greenhouse, allowing sunlight through to heat the Earth's surface but trapping some of the heat as it radiates back into space. Without this the Earth would be frozen and lifeless. However, owing to Man's activities,'greenhouse gases' are building up in the atmosphere, causing a greater amount of heat to be reflected back to Earth. The result is an increase in average world temperatures and in the future this could lead to the flooding of cities world wide and more hurricanes etc.

Ideas to Help

1. Don't waste electricity. Electricity is produced by burning coal, oil and gas and this action gives off carbon dioxide.
2. Car fumes produce carbon dioxide and nitrogen oxide - so try to cut down on car journeys if possible. Use a bike or walk - it's good exercise for you too!
3. Recycle as much of your waste as you can. Methane, the most effective 'greenhouse gas', is released into the air as the rubbish in landfill sites rots.Endangered Habitats and their Wild lifeWild habitats all over the world are fast disappearing. Forests are being cut down, rivers and seas polluted, heath lands built on, hedgerows pulled up, ponds filled in - the destruction seems endless. As the habitats decrease, so do their communities of animals and plants. Habitat destruction is one of the main reasons why many species face extinction. Other reasons include the hunting of animals and collection of plants.There are now more than 5, 000 species of animal and about 25,000 species of plants threatened with extinction. During the last 200 years more than 200 species of mammals and birds have become extinct i.e. disappeared from the earth forever. It is possible that we are losing one species of animal or plant every day!

Ideas to Help

1. In many countries souvenirs made from rare wildlife are available - never buy shells, coral or things made from elephant ivory, rhino horn or cat skin etc.
2. Remember that Indian habitats and wildlife are under threat too. The destruction of wood land, pollution of rivers and ponds, the use of pesticides and herbicides have all contributed to the reduction in the amount of wildlife in Britain. Many animals and plants are endangered e.g. red squirrels, otters, barn owls, golden eagles, natter jack toads, many species of butterflies and dragonflies, orchids - to name just a few. If you have a garden at home, you could transform it into a mini nature reserve for wildlife. The same could be done in your school grounds. Here are just a few ideas to create a wildlife garden: -

· Make a pond. Even A small pond will attract frogs and toads etc.. Birds and foxes may use it for drinking.
· Make a wildflower meadow. Wildflower plants and seeds may be bought from garden suppliers and, if planted correctly, a colorful meadow will result, attracting birds, butterflies and other insects.
· Provide logs and stones and allow a few autumn leaves to remain lying around. These provide shelter for mini beasts and perhaps small mammals such as shrews and mice. An over-neat garden will not be attractive to wildlife.
· Feed the birds during winter and put up nest boxes for robins and blue tits etc. to use in spring.
· If your garden is big enough, you could plant a small wood. Always grow native trees such as oak, ash or birch - these attract more insects than foreign trees.
· Hedgehogs are useful to have in the garden as they eat slugs. Encourage them to stay by providing them with tinned cat or dog meat, water and a safe place to hibernate in winter, such as a pile of logs, stuffed with hay and leaves.
· Avoid using chemical sprays in the garden - some of these can be poisonous to wildlife. It's best to let the birds eat the cabbage-munching caterpillars, the hedgehogs and toads deal with the lettuce-loving slugs and the ladybirds dine on the rose-ravaging greenfly!