1. Waste and Recycling
J.Quigley

2. Solid Waste: The Throwaway Society
If someone stops at a fast food restaurant and buys a burger, fries and a soda… within minutes the food is gone and you throw away: a paper bag, napkin, cardboard carton that held the fries, wax paper that held the burger, paper cup with plastic lid and plastic straw, several ketchup packets… where does all that garbage and waste go?

3. Solid Waste: The Throwaway Society
The trash will be collected by a collection service and taken to a landfill, where it will be dumped with thousands of tons of other trash and covered with a layer of dirt at the end of the day.

4. Solid Waste: The Throwaway Society
Landfills are filling up and cities are running out of places to put garbage
Rainwater runs down into landfills and dissolves harmful chemicals like paint thinner, nail polish remover and other toxic substances that are getting into our water systems and damaging the soil

5. Solid Waste: The Throwaway Society
Every year Americans generate more than 10 billion tons of solid waste
Solid waste is any discarded material that is not a liquid or a gas
Solid waste includes everything form junk mail and coffee grounds to cars and plastic products

6. Solid Waste: The Throwaway Society
Unfortunately many products today are designed to be used once and then thrown away: napkins, plastic forks and knives, paper plates, dental floss, water bottles, ziplock bags, paper coffee cups, take out containers, and so much more…
Every year the amount of waste increases in the US

7. Types of Waste
All wastes are not create equal. It isn’t just the amount of waste that causes a problem, it is also the kind of waste. There are two basic kinds of wastes: those made of biodegradable materials and those made of non-biodegradable materials

8. Types of Waste
Biodegradable material is a material that can be broken down by living things into simpler chemicals that can be consumed by living things
Products made from natural materials are biodegradable.
Some examples are: newspaper, paper bags, food, cotton fibers and leather.

9. Types of Waste
Synthetic materials are made by combining chemicals to form compounds that do not exist in nature. These are NOT biodegradable. Some examples are polyester, nylon and plastic
These synthetic materials often remain for hundreds and thousands of years. They also can release toxins into the ground

10. Where does the trash go?
Though most of our trash is sent to landfills and some incinerated (burned) more and more is being recycled.
In the US, about 30-40% of waste is recycled. This number should be much higher, since so much waste is compostable and recyclable now

11. Landfill
More than 50% of waste ends up in landfills. A landfill is a waste disposal facility where wastes are put in the ground and covered each day with a layer of dirt, plastic or both
One problem with landfills is leachate. Leachate is water that contains toxic chemicals dissolved from waster in a land fill

12. Landfill
Leachate is formed when water seeps down though a landfill dissolving chemicals from decomposing garbage along the way it contains chemicals form paints, pesticides, cleaners, cans, batteries and appliances. This poisonous “chemical soup” sometime flows into groundwater supplies, making water form nearby wells unfit to drink

13. Landfill
Another problem with landfills is methane. As organic waste decomposes deep in the landfill, where there is no oxygen, it produces methane, a highly flammable gas
Methane may seep through the ground into basements of homes up to 300m from a landfill and it can cause deadly explosions

14. Landfill
New laws are helping to prevent some of the leachate and methane problems by requiring that landfills be lined with a clay or plastic liner and must have systems for treating leachate. Vent pipes are also installed to carry methane out of the landfill.

15. Incinerators
One option for reducing the amount of solid waste sent to landfills is to burn it in incinerators.
The steam can be used to generate electricity, but the waste that is burned doesn’t disappear… instead it ends up as air pollution and ash. So, incinerators are not a good solution to landfills.

16. Options for the Future
Producing less waste- if we produce less waste, we will reduce the expense and difficulty of collecting and disposing of it.
Many ideas for reducing waste are simple.

17. Options for the Future Ways to reduce waste:
Using both sides of a sheet of paper
Reusable shopping bags
Reusable food containers
Refusing to buy products with unnecessary packaging
Cloth diapers for babies
Cloth napkins
Refillable water bottles
Buying from manufactures who use less material when producing products

18. Options for the Future
Recycling- in addition to reducing waste we need to find ways to make the best possible use of all the materials we discard
To recycle as much as possible. Making products from recycled materials saves energy, water and other resources.
It takes 95% less energy to recycle aluminum than to get it from the earth.

19. Options for the Future
It takes 75% less energy to make steel from scrap than from ore
It takes about 70% less energy to make paper out of recycled paper than from trees.
When most people think about recycling, they think about bottles, cans and newspapers… there is so much more than can be recycled!

20. Options for the Future Please Recycle- Paper
Plastic: bottles, yogurt containers, bags…
Metal
Batteries
Styrofoam
Glass
Crayons
VHS/Cassette Tapes
Nail polish/paint

21. Options for the Future
Reuse and Repurpose- instead of throwing away or recycling unwanted items, see if you can find a way for them to be used again-
Donate clothes and shoes
Donate unwanted household items
Appliances and vehicles can be sold or donated for parts
Torn or stained clothes can be cut and used for cleaning cloths
Milk jugs can be used as little greenhouses for plants
Egg cartons can hold small items like nuts and bolts, beads, jewelry… they can also be used to grow sprouts for planting a garden
Wood from furniture can be used to create new things: a baby crib can be made into a bench…
Pieces of glass and tile can be broken and used to create art
What else can be reused or repurposed?

22. Options for the Future
Composting- yard waste often makes up about 15% of a cities waste… none of this waste should be going to a landfill. All of this yard debris should be composted.
Compost is a dark brown, crumbly material made from decomposed vegetable and animal materials. It is rich in the nutrients that help plants grow

23. Options for the Future
Portland composts not only yard waste, but all food waste too. By composting all the biodegradable waste from plants and animals, waste going to landfills has been reduced by about 15%!
Recycling has reduced Portland waste going to landfills by about 40% in the last 10 years.

24. Options for the Future
Changing the materials we use is important. Much waste could be eliminated by simply changing the materials used to package products.

25. Here are some simple things you can do to help with waste:
Recycle everything you can possibly recycle, become vigilant about it.
Buy products made from recycled materials
Use cloth shopping bags.
Look for items with little or no packaging and choose vendors who make good packaging decisions.
Do not use single use napkins, utensils, cups or dishes unless absolutely necessary.
Use reusable containers for packing lunches
Save paper whenever possible, use both sides before recycling
Put all yard debris and food waste into the compost
What else??

26. Hazardous Waste
Many products we use today from laundry soap to computers are produced in factories using thousands of chemicals. Many of these chemical are classified as hazardous waste.
Hazardous wastes are wastes that are toxic or highly corrosive or explode easily

27. Hazardous Waste
Hazardous waste can be solid, liquid or gas. Some examples are:
Some dyes, cleaners and solvents
PCH’s used in insulating material, plastics, solvents, lubricants and sealants
Toxic heavy metals such as lead, mercury, cadmium and zinc
Pesticides
Radioactive waste

28. Hazardous Waste
We can manage hazardous waste by forcing businesses to follow the laws in waster disposal. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) works hard to make sure businesses follow the laws around proper hazardous waste disposal

29. Hazardous Waste
We can also buy from companies and make laws that forces companies to use less waste, to reuse products when ever possible, to look for ways to create products with less hazardous or non hazardous materials and by educating ourselves about disposing waste

30. Hazardous Waste at HOME
We usually think of hazardous waste as a big industry problem, there are a lot of hazardous waste products in the average home including:
Paint, pesticides, batteries, nail polish, nail polish remover, bleach, medications, car oil

31. Hazardous Waste at Home
Metro in Oregon City will recycle most hazardous waste for free. You just have to bring it there and they will take it and recycle it. This prevents it from getting into landfills and water. Please educate your family about hazardous waste and why we need to recycle it!