Waste and You
Waste. Something we all know. Whether you didn't quite finish those leftovers, didn't think to recycle that one item, or any other thing that produces waste, you might think your individual impact doesn't matter that much!
And yet, it does. Not as much as the global companies, who use loopholes in the law to get away with avoiding taxes, poisoning us, and getting richer all the while, but it does matter. Again, nothing you ever do will compare to the large companies, and we need to fix legislation to change that, but. It still does matter, as all one person's action matters.
Every idea to improve the world came from one person, after all.
Only 9% of plastic ends up recycled, and the total generation of municipal solid waste in the United States just in 2017 was over 267.8 million tons!
Different types of waste have different effects. Food waste, as it decomposes, releases methane gas, which is nearly 100 times more potent than carbon dioxide! How to avoid this?
Think about making a compost pile! A compost pile is a pile that makes compost! What is compost? Compost is organic material that can be added to soil to help plants grow. Food scraps and yard waste together currently make up more than 30 percent of what we throw away and could be composted instead. Making compost keeps these materials out of landfills where they take up space and release methane, a potent greenhouse gas.
As an added benefit, compost can be added to flowers, vegetable gardens, or lawns to improve health and promote growth!
It's a great way to take responsibility and avoid adding to the landfills around the world because even if it does decompose, which is unlikely considering the lack of natural materials around it, landfills are already a hub of adding toxic chemicals to the air. A compost pile expends carbon, yes, but is far easier to manage, and efficient, than a landfill!
It's why we sell latex mattresses! Latex is completely biodegradable and recyclable, and doesn't add to landfills around us!
Taking responsibility and helping the world around us doesn't have to be difficult. It can start with a step. Whether voting or composting, all it takes is a single step to help the world around us.