por What is garbage pollution?
The Pollution by Garbage It is the accumulation of solid waste generated by human activity in the environment. The accumulation of garbage brings environmental problems by producing air, soil and water pollution. In addition, it alters the functioning of ecosystems and is an important cause of death due to obstruction or poisoning of wildlife.
It is also a public health problem, being a culture medium for various disease-causing pathogens. On the other hand, the accumulation of waste constitutes an aesthetic problem, capable of altering the quality of life and local economies based on activities such as tourism.
The structural cause of the accumulation of garbage is the prevailing economic development model, based on the exacerbated consumption of goods and services. Among the direct causes are population growth, the high concentration of human communities and poor waste management.
Garbage contamination can be prevented with good management and final disposal of waste. Another approach, known as the three Rs, involves reducing, reusing, and recycling. However, a deeper alternative involves changing the consumption patterns of current human society.
Solid debris can accumulate anywhere, including in the stratosphere, where it is found in the form of space debris. Other very obvious cases are the garbage islands that have formed in the oceans and the accumulation of waste in the large cities of underdeveloped countries.
Causes
Garbage can be defined as waste that has no utility and must be disposed of. These residues are the product of human production and consumption activities that have no economic value.
Therefore, it is the various human activities, such as agriculture, industry, mining, among others, that affect the generation of garbage.
The main causes of garbage pollution are mentioned below:
Development model
The consumption pattern of a given population is largely defined by its economic development model. Currently, an industrial model based on the mass production of all kinds of merchandise predominates worldwide.
This model is based on promoting the maximum consumption of products, through different advertising strategies. In this way, the consumer is encouraged to acquire goods (which in many cases are not needed) to satisfy their real needs.
On the other hand, in industrial processes a practice known as planned obsolescence has developed. It consists of designing products in such a way that their useful life is short, with the purpose of achieving greater economic performance.
Consumer goods become useless due to lack of spare parts or poor quality of parts. This forces the consumer to discard the product and purchase a new one to meet their needs.
This practice results in the generation of a large amount of waste to be discarded. In addition, if there are no adequate programs for their processing, they end up accumulating in inappropriate places.
The combination of encouraging consumption with planned obsolescence practices generates serious garbage contamination problems.
Population growth and concentration
One of the main direct causes of the accumulation of garbage is population growth. This is because the greater the number of people, there is a greater demand for goods and services.
The accelerated production of products that can satisfy the consumption demand of this growing population generates a large amount of waste.
On the other hand, it can be seen that the greatest concentration of people on the planet is located in small geographical areas. In fact, approximately 75% of the world’s population is distributed in mid-latitudes, with mild climates.
The most densely populated areas are South Asia (Japan and China) and East Asia (Indochina, India and Pakistan). Other regions are Eastern Europe and Northeast North America.
In these regions, the production of waste is very high, so its processing becomes complex. In addition, most of the most populous countries have underdeveloped economies, with deficient garbage management plans.
Bad waste management
Poor waste management is the main direct cause of garbage pollution. The waste generated by the production of goods only becomes garbage if it is not processed properly.
For example, glass bottles that have already been used can become waste or raw material. If these bottles are thrown into a poorly controlled landfill, they will accumulate and become garbage.
On the other hand, if they are used to produce new glass containers, they become raw material. They do not accumulate and contribute to decrease the production of new materials.
Poor waste management has become a serious environmental problem worldwide. As an example, we have the annual accumulation of more than 8 million tons of plastic waste in seas and oceans.
Currently, this plastic waste represents almost 80% of marine litter, the majority in the form of microplastics (< 5mm). This accumulation brings very serious consequences for all the marine ecosystems of the planet.
Consequences
Impact on public health
The inadequate accumulation of solid and liquid waste directly affects the epidemiological risk of the population. For example, the uncontrolled dumping of excrement favors the proliferation of insects, rodents and other animals that are vectors of diseases.
In addition, when garbage accumulates, conditions are generated in the environment that favor the reproduction of pathogenic microorganisms. These can later be dispersed by wind or water and affect people.
The World Health Organization (WHO) indicates that in 2017 there were more than 1.7 million child deaths due to environmental pollution. Many of these deaths are the result of garbage pollution in the poorest regions of the world.
It is indicated that more than 361,000 children have died from gastrointestinal diseases, due to having ingested water contaminated by garbage. Another 200,000 children have died from diseases transmitted by insects that breed in poorly managed waste.
Impact on biodiversity
Garbage pollution has a negative impact on biodiversity. One of the problems with the greatest global impact is the accumulation of plastic in the seas and oceans.
Marine ecosystems provide 60% of the proteins consumed by humans, and support an industry that produces some 2.1 billion euros a year. In addition, they support the life of approximately 700,000 species.
The accumulation of plastics seriously affects this biological system. For example, microplastics consumed by zooplankton, crustaceans, and fish can affect them by accumulating chemical contaminants in their bodies.
On the other hand, these pollutants enter food chains and pass from one species to another. Likewise, they can affect people who consume marine animals contaminated with plastic.
Larger pieces of plastic or aluminum debris can cause animals, such as birds and sea turtles, to suffocate to death. In this sense, it is estimated that 52% of sea turtles have been affected by plastic waste.
Garbage accumulation near natural habitats can cause many animal species to change their eating habits. This is because they find affordable sources of energy foods that generate metabolic disorders that affect their health.
Another impact on biodiversity is that the garbage incorporates biocidal substances into the environment, such as heavy metals and detergents, among others. This causes contamination of water sources and soil, one of the most serious being radioactive waste.
Impact on environmental quality
When organic waste accumulates in large quantities and inappropriately, it begins to decompose, generating gases that are harmful to health. Among these we have carbon dioxide and methane, greenhouse gases.
Additionally, methane is highly combustible and can cause fires that burn plastic waste. This waste, when burned, generates toxic gases that cause various respiratory diseases and some types of cancer.
Another serious problem of garbage contamination is that it decreases the quality of water sources. The incorporation of heavy metals, detergents, dioxins, oils and other toxic substances affect its potability and utility for irrigation.
In some cases, the concentration of dissolved oxygen can be changed, seriously affecting aquatic ecosystems. Also, when garbage decomposes, it releases substances that are leached to the groundwater level, contaminating groundwater.
Likewise, the soil can be contaminated by the same toxic compounds, affecting its physical and chemical properties and fertility.
Impact on tourist activity
Tourism worldwide generates earnings of more than 1.2 trillion euros per year, and represents almost 10% of world GDP. In many places it is the main economic activity, so the aesthetic aspect has economic importance.
Garbage pollution in tourist places, particularly in countries with underdeveloped economies, brings great economic losses. In this sense, the UN indicates that tourism has stopped receiving more than 540 million dollars a year due to the accumulation of garbage.
Solutions
Different strategies have been implemented to solve garbage contamination, the traditional ones such as landfills or incineration being inefficient. Therefore, this problem must be addressed comprehensively, attacking its causes in depth.
Among the possible solutions to the problem of garbage contamination, we have:
Sustainable economic model
The fundamental solution to the garbage problem would be a change in the economic model towards a more sustainable one, which does not promote the unnecessary consumption of goods and services. For this, it would be necessary to achieve a balance between the economic, social and environmental needs of society.
The recycling of consumer products should be promoted, as well as the abandonment of practices such as planned obsolescence. These actions would greatly reduce waste production by human populations.
Awareness raising and modification of production and consumption patterns
From the institutional point of view, environmental quality standards that reduce waste production should be promoted. Likewise, it is convenient to generate fiscal policies that reward the efficiency of more sustainable production processes.
It is convenient to implement educational programs that encourage the change of consumption habits of the population and promote recycling. These campaigns should seek a change in awareness for the consumption of products that generate less waste.
The consumer must…