Question

only managing waste is enough for the health of our citizens. write a debate

Answer 1

Answer:

Every time a ton of paper is recycled, 17 trees, 79 gallons of oil, 7,000 gallons of water, 41,000 kilowatts of energy, and 3 cubic yards of landfill space are saved (Fullerton, 2007.) Every living creature on this planet depends on raw materials extracted from the earth. If we continue to take resources from the earth at a faster rate than they can be produced naturally, we will not survive. It is necessary that we conserve the earth’s resources by recycling our waste so that we can provide a healthy environment for our offspring to inhabit. Recycling turns materials that would otherwise become waste into valuable resources. It yields environmental, financial, and social returns in natural resource conservation, energy conservation, pollution prevention, and economic expansion and competitiveness.

Definition of Problem

As a nation, we produce an unthinkable amount of municipal trash. Our current rate of 250 million tons per year could fill a convoy of 10-ton trash trucks nearly 90,000 miles long—enough to circle the equator nearly eight times! (Glenn, 1998). In 2010, the average American generated 4.3 pounds of municipal solid waste every day (epa.gov, 2013.) To make matters worse, the amount of refuse generated in the United States is projected to increase by about 16% by the year 2016 (Glenn, 1998). There are environmental concerns associated with excessive waste generation including large scale greenhouse gas emissions and poisoning of groundwater.