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Putting Waste in its Place
By Bill Lord Each and every day a river of products, most in separate packages, flows into our homes. This “stuff” comes from grocery stores, retail stores, schools and work places. All of it will eventually become garbage. It has been said, “If our garbage were a river, we would be drowning in it.” Garbage is either a valuable resource or an unwanted by-product of civilization. The choice is ours. If garbage is a river coming in, then we must decide what stream it will follow when it leaves our home. Will we send it to the stream that flows to the recycling center? The compost pile? The reuse center or yard sale? Or, will we let it continue flowing to the landfill where it will remain for decades, entombed in a garbage graveyard? It has been demonstrated that the more we recycle, the less adverse impact we have on our environment. We use less energy and emit less carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases. Additionally, for each item we recycle, there is an industry that can use it for a raw material. Newsprint becomes paper towels; plastic bottles become clothes or carpet or more plastic bottles; and aluminum cans become more aluminum cans. Recent studies indicate that well over 60 percent of all our garbage can be recycled or composted. What we don’t reuse, compost or recycle goes into a landfill. Landfills require multiple permits, with extensive testing and continuous monitoring. This is as it should be – our garbage can be toxic. In our region, the cost of landfill construction exceeds $300,000 per acre with annual maintenance cost well in excess of $2,500,000. Currently, the disposal cost at the NABORS Landfill in Baxter County remains the lowest of any landfill in our region. Landfill space is limited and new landfills are not likely to be permitted in our lifetime. The more waste resources we remove from the river of garbage and send to the recycling, composting, and re-use streams, the more our air, water, and soil resources will be improved while reducing the pressure and cost on our local landfill. It is a win-win situation. We can all do our part. Recycling is easy and convenient and something we can all do. Remember, “A lot of people doing a little can make a big difference.” Submitted by the Environmental Writers Project of the Northwest Arkansas Economic Development District. For more information, call 870.741.6536 or online at www.nwaedd.org/waste
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