Rubbish and Recycling

 

A brief history of rubbish

 

THE ANCIENT WORLD

In ancient times, nomadic peoples simply left their rubbish and moved on. Once people settled in villages, they were faced with problem of having to dispose off the rubbish from where they lived. Often they covered it with earth. This caused ground level to increase in ancient cities such as Troy by one metre a century. The first anti-dumping law was issued in Athens, Greece in 320 BC, when citizens were compelled to bury their rubbish or putt it in pits outside the city.

THE MIDDLE AGES
In medieval cities, people often threw their smelly rubbish into the street, causing the spread of rats, mice - and disease. Free-roaming pigs ate some of it, except in Paris where they were banned after 1131, after King Louis VI's son and heir was killed when his horse tripped over a wandering pig. In London kites and ravens scavenged among the rubbish tips. The birds were so important that killing one was punishable by death.

THE 19th CENTURY
Rag-and-bone men were a common sight in 19th century streets. They went from house to house with a horse and a cart, gathering anything that could be resold. Dustmen collected cinders from home fires to be used in brick making; human waste and horse manure were taken to farms for fertilizer. The first rubbish-burning incinerator, called the destructor was built in Nottingham in 1874.The first dustbin appeared in Paris, France in 1883.It was introduced by Eugene Poubelle, the prefect of police. To this day, the French call a dustbin a "potbelly".

THE 20th CENTURY
During 20th century, thousands of new disposable goods were invented and fewer people had open fires so more rubbish was thrown away. Disused electronic equipment including TV sets, computer, mobile phones and fax machines began to join the world's growing dumps.

 

 

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Play games, Learn to recycle

  • Recycling game - This website gives a beautiful game in which you have to choose the items which can be recycled.

                 Where does the rubbish go?

  • Landfills - Most waste ends up underground - in giant municipal pits, or landfill sites, where it can rot out of sight. These are usually lined to prevent dangerous chemicals seeping into the ground. However, many discarded objects take decades, even centuries to break down, and we are running out of suitable places to bury waste.
  • Incineration - Burning rubbish is another solution, burning gets rid of most kinds of waste and the heat can be converted into energy for other uses. The problem is that incineration releases harmful gases, some of which may contribute to global warming.
  • recycling - Recycling uses old waste to make new products. It cuts down the amount of rubbish and saves natural resources by reducing the need for new raw materials. Items most suitable for recycling are organic matter (plant and animal) which can be composted and used as fertilizer, metals (such as aluminium cans), glass and paper.
  • Reduce and Reuse - The most suitable solution is to reduce the amount of waste we create. Compared with 50 years ago, food can are 50 per cent lighter, yoghurt pots are 60 per cent lighter, glass bottles are 50 per cent lighter and plastic carrier bags are half as thick. Shoppers can help by choosing not to buy goods with lots of packaging or disposable containers, as these make up 10-20 cent of all domestic rubbish.

A mountain of junk!

More than 1000 people have climbed Mt.Everest, the World's highest peak since it was conquered in 1953.They and their support team, have dropped more than 50 TONNES OF RUBBISH, making Everest the highest rubbish .In 2001 Nepalese sherpas (local guides) have collected more than 6 TONNES of paper bags, tents, ropes, clothes, alumunium ladders, batteries, oxygen bottles and plastic cans. Nepal now charges climbers a £3000 deposit which is returned only if they removed all their rubbish.

 

                                                                                 How long it takes to rot

  • 1. Cotton rags - 1-5 months
  • 2. Paper - 2-5 months
  • 3. Orange peel - Upto 6 months
  • 4. Wool socks - 1-5 years
  • 5. Cigarette ends - 1-12 years
  • 6. Plastic-coated drink cartons - 5 years
  • 7. Plastic bags - 10-20 years
  • 8. Photo film - 20-30 years
  • 9. Leather shoes - 25-50 years
  • 10. Artificial fibre clothes (nylon, etc,.) - 30-40 years
  • 11. Tin cans - 50-100 years

Incredible facts

   

  • General garbage - The UK produces more than 434 million tonnes of waste every year. This rate of rubbish generation would fill the Albert Hall in London in less than 2 hours. Every year UK households throw away the equivalent of 3 ½ million double-decker buses (almost 30 million tonnes), a queue of which would stretch from London to Sydney (Australia) and back. On average, each person in the UK throws away seven times their body weight (about 500kg) in rubbish every year.
  • Glass - On average, every family in the UK consumes around 330 glass bottles and jars a year. (British Glass) It is not known how long glass takes to break down but it is so long that glass made in the Middle East over 3000 years ago can still be found today. Recycling two bottles saves enough energy to boil water for five cups of tea.
  • Fantastic plastic - Every year, an estimated 17½ billion plastic bags are given away by supermarkets. This is equivalent to over 290 bags for every person in the UK. 17½ billion seconds ago it was the year 1449. We produce and use 20 times more plastic today than we did 50 years ago!
  • Oil - 1 litre of oil can pollute 1 million litres of fresh drinking water (Scottish Oil Care Campaign). Waste oil from nearly 3 million car oil changes in Britain is not collected. If collected properly, this could meet the annual energy needs of 1.5 million people. (Scottish Oil Care Campaign)
  • Preposterous paper - About one fifth of the contents of household dustbins consist of paper and card, of which half is newspapers and magazines. This is equivalent to over 4kg of waste paper per household in the UK each week.
  • Persistent packaging - In 2001 UK households produced the equivalent weight of 245 jumbo jets per week in packaging waste. Every year each person produces 4 times as much packaging waste as their luggage allowance on a jumbo jet.
  • Revolting rubbish - Babies' nappies make up about 2 % of the average household rubbish. This is equivalent to the weight of nearly 70,000 double decker buses every year. If lined up front to end, the buses would stretch from London to Edinburgh

 

Ways to reduce waste

  • 1. Use a shopping bag
  • 2. Refuse carrier bags
  • 3. Buy fruits and vegetables loose, not packed
  • 4. Buy recycled goods
  • 5. Buy reusable nappies
  • 6. Buy soft drinks in large bottles and pour into smaller bottles for daily use
  • 7. Reuse wrapping paper, packing materials and envelopes
  • 8. Pack your lunch in a reusable rather than foils or clingfilm
  • 9. Choose durable products over disposable ones, e.g. rechargeable
  • 10.Donate unwanted clothes
  • 11.Donate unwanted furniture
  • 12.Buy drinks in glass bottles - they can be reused 20 times
  • 13.Return cloth hangers to dry cleaners
  • 14.Take glass, cans, paper, and cardboard to recycling banks
  • 15.Use compost such as vermi-composts to degrade organic matter.

Why we should inculcate the 3 Rs

   

Did you know it takes 24 gallons of water to make 1 pound of plastic? That's why we recommend reducing, reusing and recycling.

The best thing to do is reduce the amount of waste that we produce. When buying things, look for items that are durable and can be reused. Also avoid extra packaging that will make its way to landfills. If you don't buy a chemical product in the first place it has no chance to pollute water.

Next best is reusing items. This means using the same bag, cup, or clothes over and over to avoid getting new or disposable ones. One item that gets used a hundred times is far better than a hundred items getting used once.

Equally important is recycling. Recycling, and buying recycled products means a lot less energy and resources are being wasted to bring you a product. Although recycling programs are more common today there is still work to be done. Every year Americans throw out 51 billion aluminum cans, 85% of office paper, and 70% of all metal, along with tons of batteries, paint, and used motor oil.