Hazardous Waste Management
Not Your Ordinary Trash ~
If you thought regular household waste was bad, it just got worse! There are some forms of everyday waste that stand above the rest…and not in a good way.
Many items that we use and often dispose of regularly, like batteries, light bulbs, cell phones, cleaners, and computers, have specific disposal requirements that we tend to overlook. Because these items could contain parts made up of substances that are flammable, corrosive, explosive, or toxic, improper disposal could be environmentally damaging, as well as present health risks to humans and other life. Harmful pollutants from hazardous waste carelessly tossed into landfills or other inappropriate disposal areas, can adversely affect sanitation workers, as well as mix with water to create a nasty hazardous liquid called leachate. The possibility that leachate will find its way out through landfill containment barriers, is great. Once free, it can enter the soil and clean water sources around the vicinity. Yuck, is the only word that comes to mind!
It may be easy to shrug off the fact that poor hazardous waste disposal could harm the environment around the disposal site, but remember once contaminants hit the water, they travel much faster and much farther than they could otherwise. If harming others and the environment is not enough to motivate you to manage your household hazardous waste, or HHW, properly, perhaps the fact that you might be close enough to suffer the effects too, will. It’s not someone else’s problem, it’s all of ours.