Are Landfills Really the Best Way in Waste Disposal?

We can’t help it. The earth is producing more human beings than what it could actually hold. In fact it is predicted that in the next decades, our wastes will literally pile up in columns. This is one of the downfalls of the advancements of our civilization. As we create new products to satisfy us, more wastes have been produced that are unhealthy to our environment. Most countries, however have devised waste disposal techniques to combat this problem. One of these ways, is the putting up of a sanitary landfill. But the question is, “how hygienic really is your sanitary landfill?

Government officials prefer the building of sanitary landfills because they are cheaper to construct. One just needs a piece of land, ideally a few kilometers away from houses and areas with large concentrations of people. In a landfill, a big hole should be dug with its linings contoured so as soil erosion to be avoided. In more modern landfills, they use big trucks to flatten the garbage for them to be made into a compact solid material that can be made as extender for cement, fly ash, asphalt and other organic polymers.

There are reports however in some municipalities that landfills have serious health drawbacks from nearby houses. The immediate reaction for those people living near landfills is that they experience an awful smell from the garbage and they are harassed with pests like mice, roaches and ticks. Garbage also poses as an eyesore for visitors who are strolling in the countryside. And because our garbage is composed of chemicals, it is expected that these chemicals will react with moist and other contents in the soil. There have  been cases in municipalities that landfills pollute the water system. This could mean the outbreak of intestinal diseases like cholera and diarrhea. These and many more negative effects landfills can bring to our environment.

As consumers, we should also be responsible to our own wastes. As much as possible, we should examine our wastes before they go to the garbage bin. This is for our own good and for our environment.