by Susie George & Cheyenne Whisenhunt

Waste, especially plastic waste, is becoming an ever-daunting concern that is purposefully suppressed. To account for the massive amounts of trash humans are producing, landfills are growing in size and number on a daily basis. Their growing existence creates environmental and physiological issues ranging from Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions to health problems in nearby human, animal, and ecological communities. Before landfills were regulated, many people dumped their garbage into rivers or directly onto the land. Though some of these waste dumping sites have been cleaned up, many still exist.

Even worse, countless contain potentially harmful hazardous materials and chemicals, which is why numerous closed landfills require continuous monitoring. In addition, a multitude of landfills remain in unknown locations and are therefore unable to be cleared or monitored. Today, landfills are engineered to provide a method for depositing waste into or on the land's surface in a specially designed manner that is safer for the land, humans, and other life, but they still leave deep scars on the environment in multiple ways.

Landfills: Harming the Land and our Health

The prevalence of and apathy regarding landfills has led to trash becoming a major issue around the world. Look around the room you're currently in. How many single use items do you see? It is a phenomenon that has become normalized, but the amount of trash that is piling up on top and within the earth is devastating to say the least. The average person in the U.S. produces around 4 pounds of trash every day, which is equivalent to the entire U.S. filling 63,000 garbage trucks daily, yikes! This ever-growing amount of waste has resulted in potential leachate contamination, an increase of GHG emissions, and irreversible socio-economic impacts. Not to mention the environmental impacts just from constructing the landfill alone.

As waste within a landfill begins to break down through biological, chemical and physical processes, it produces both gases and leachate. Leachate refers to any liquid permeation resulting from deposited waste contained within a landfill. As this liquid contains a variety of hazardous, toxic, or carcinogenic chemical contaminants, it can lead to harmful consequences for both the environment and human health if it seeps out of a landfill. Leachate is detrimental because it can migrate through the soil to groundwater, or even to surface water. This results in serious problems as the soil may retain the components of the leachate, like metals and nutrients, which are absorbed by plants, thereby potentially entering the food system. Ultimately, leachate has the ability to overthrow an entire ecosystem.

Moreover, it has been found that landfill sites contribute to roughly 20% of global human-induced methane emissions (Danthurebandara, et al.). That is an enormous portion of emissions created solely by humanity’s garbage! The primary suspects produced include methane (CH4) and carbon dioxide (CO2), along with several other contaminants at low concentrations, such as ammonia, sulfide, and non-methane organic compounds. These gases ultimately speed up the rate of climate change, which leads to devastating impacts including volatile weather, sea level rise, increasing temperatures, intensified natural disasters, and so much more. For a science backed deep dive on Climate Change, click here to access an article from our (the authors’) business, Branching Together.

The health and social impacts of landfills are far and wide. As mentioned above, the contamination of drinking water from leachate is a major health risk to humans. Additionally, those living and working near landfills are regularly exposed to harmful emissions, which lead to long-term health effects. A number of studies revealed that people who live near or work at a landfill have a higher risk of developing cancers of the stomach, liver and intrahepatic bile ducts and trachea, bronchus, lung, cervix, and prostate. There are numerous other health complications that can arise in an individual due to excessive exposure to landfill emissions, which is why it is essential that historically oppressed communities be granted the justice they deserve. Waste is never thrown away, it is simply relocated, perpetually creating vast issues for nearby communities.

Tackling Waste

Though the concept known as waste is discouraging, especially when considering the global context and production of waste by large corporations, there are always ways we can each do our part to reduce the amount of trash we generate. Our top three include reusing or repurposing an item as much as possible before discarding it, switching to reusable and high quality products when buying new, and supporting sustainable businesses that do their part to generate the least amount of waste possible from production to delivery of their product.

Unfortunately, many items today are marketed as single-time use items, are not built to last, or come covered in unsustainable packaging. However, there is more that can be done with these items than you think. For example, if you have to purchase an item that comes in a plastic container, plastic bag, can, or other material, consider other uses for that item before you head toward the garbage. It could be transformed into an organizer for your desk or home office, on-the-go food, water and toy storage for your pet’s supplies, or you can slowly build a unique art piece for your living room or dining room with all the unique trashy pieces you collect. There are so many fun ideas when you start to get creative with trash! Another helpful hint is to buy in bulk when possible, or to shop at stores that allow you to bring your own reusable containers (when safe). These actions can help you reduce your trash production more than you think.

Sometimes reusing an item is no longer an option, and we just have to buy a new replacement. When that is the case, make an investment that will last as long as possible. A cheap pair of shoes may seem convenient in the moment, but spending extra on an eco-consciously made pair that will last you years longer is not only better for the environment, it’s also better for your wallet. Purchasing items that are reusable can also help you significantly cut down on the waste in your life. For example, instead of using disposable plastic ziploc bags for snack items, wash and reuse food containers and packaging from previous purchases when possible. You can even wash and reuse ziploc bags, or invest in silicon ziploc bags. Decisions such as these also inspire those in your life to take a more mindful approach to waste and living sustainably.

Finally, it is extremely important when you are purchasing food or other products that you do your best to purchase from a business that has a low environmental impact, with specific regards to waste generation. Some areas to explore before purchasing from a business include examining the raw materials used to create the product, their production processes, packaging and delivery options, and the disposal process for that specific item once you are through using it. If a company is vague about their manufacturing process, it’s usually the first sign that they are probably not being conscious of their waste creation. However, don’t be afraid to reach out to a company to ask about how they produce their goods to ensure they are being mindful and that you are investing in products from an environmentally conscious business. Shopping sustainably will certainly help in creating a world with less waste.

That’s why Branching Together is a business that we, Cheyenne and Susie, created that specifically focuses on preventing as much trash, primarily plastic and scrap wood, as possible from ever seeing a landfill. As many businesses generate large quantities of trash each day, we made it our duty to try to prevent waste from meeting its end, which gave us the model and mission for our business, “turning trash into treasure for your sustainable journey.” For example, 5-gallon buckets are an extremely common item that businesses go through by the truckload but are difficult to dispose of, leading to buckets being trashed on a large-scale, which is why they are the main waste item collected at Branching Together. We clean and transform these unwanted buckets into functional products to help people live more sustainably. See how we give trash new life by visiting our website!

Focusing on Solutions

We hope this brief dive into the land of trash has been helpful and inspired you to think more about how you can do your part to break the cycle of use and discard. Trash is such an overlooked issue since it may not be as appealing of a topic as other subjects out there, but it is certainly one that deserves our full attention! Next time you’re about to throw something out, make sure there are no other possible uses for it, and be mindful when purchasing products that they do not contribute to the ever-growing number of landfills across the globe. And remember, when you refuse to reuse, it’s the Earth you abuse.

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