Mankind created the first landfill in 400 BC. in ancient Athens and since then the problem of accumulation of various wastes has only worsened.
Activists from the Rada Ecological Enterprise on Facebook have prepared 7 interesting facts about waste recycling, which is the basis for cleaning the planet.
- Over the past 100 years, the amount of waste has increased by 10,000%;
The authors emphasized that every day people throw away hundreds of millions of plastic bottles, each of which will take more than 400 years to decompose.
- At the landfill, the waste is packed so tightly that a large part of the waste decomposes in anaerobic conditions (without oxygen);
They explained that in anaerobic conditions, garbage decomposes with the formation of a large amount of methane gas, the negative impact of which is considered one of the main causes of global warming.
- There are huge garbage patches in the world's oceans, which are constantly increasing;
It is noted that the largest is the so-called "Great Pacific Garbage Patch", according to various estimates, it contains up to four million tons of garbage. The thickness of this toxic mixture in some places exceeds 5 meters and completely blocks the access of sunlight.
- Landfills will remain for posterity;
The message emphasized that even a plastic bag from a grocery store, if not recycled, will decompose in a landfill for hundreds of years.
- Around the world, people use approximately 1 trillion plastic bags, which is almost 100 million barrels of oil;
- For the production of paper from secondary raw materials, 60% less energy is spent than during its primary production. In addition, it preserves the life of the trees;
- Often people do not even think about how much they harm the environment.
The authors emphasized that the discarded cigarette butt will completely decompose only after 12-15 years and all this time will pollute the earth with harmful substances contained in the filter, and the glass bottle - only after 1 million years.
Earlier, EcoPolitic wrote, that eco-activists urged Ukrainians to compost organic waste even in apartments, because such processing has at least 7 advantages for nature conservation.
As EcoPolitic previously reported, Ukrainians were urged to use environmentally friendly means during cleaning, which will help save money, preserve health and nature.
