The three mantras to an eco-friendly, green and more sustainable environment for the future lies in ‘reducing, reusing and recycling’.
Unfortunately many of us forget this mantra and instead wreak havoc on the environment through our careless attitudes, either with regard to waste disposal or otherwise. In fact improper methods of waste disposal are one of the most pressing methods of environmental concern today.
The layman should be made aware of the appropriate waste disposal procedures, so as to save the environment from getting polluted. Not just factories, industries and big businesses, but even families generate a lot of waste that they do not dispose off properly. These waste products harm the environment in a myriad of ways if not disposed of properly.
What are hazardous materials
Many ingredients that are used in everyday products contain certains elements that are potentially toxic and hazardous. These common but hazardous household products need to be treated carefully before being dumped. If you live in or around St. Louis, roll-off dumpsters are a great way of removing waste from your house.
Disposing of these hazardous products down the drain, on to the ground or in the garbage bin is not a good idea. Consequently they would inadvertently discharge a lot of hazardous and toxic substances into the environment, thereby polluting the water sources around, the air and even the land on which food is grown.
Discarding these items in your trash can is hardly a good option because you would then be exposing the person who collects the trash to additional health risks. For instance you should always dispose of electronic waste with a lot of caution. The term ‘e-waste’ collectively refers to waste products that either contains unused, faulty or broken appliances and electronic devices. There is an overwhelming quantity of e-waste that is generated everyday in our surroundings as the usage of electronic gadgets has shot through the roof in recent times.
Ewaste are a common type of hazardous materials
Computer components, parts of mobile phones, televisions and electronic kitchen appliances are some of the most common appliances that are potentially hazardous materials. Many people usually believe that it is okay to discard all these electronic wastes in landfills, without realizing that such wastes will be lying around in the landfill for many years without disintegrating.
Thus, it is a better option to dump them in dumpsters than throwing them in landfills, wherein they can be recycled properly. In fact to make waste disposal a more environmentally friendly-practice, some rental dumpster companies actually offer cash refund to customers who discard their electronic waste by using their dumpsters.
One tip while dealing with electronic waste is not to burn it. Although you may be under the impression that burning e-waste is a more efficient way of removing them because they will burn and get reduced to ashes, realize that this is just a myth. Burning e-waste is a very dangerous and harmful method of waste disposal since the smoke produced from the burning of such waste is very toxic and adds to air pollution at alarmingly high rates.
Burning of hazardous items might also lead to dangerous explosions. You should also be wary of burning other substances like filters for oils, paints, solvents, fluorescent lights and items like Antifreeze in order to dispose them off.
Several common household waste products that are dangerous and can be disposed off safely by using rental dumpsters are medicines, fertilizers for the garden or grass, motor oil, pest sprays and serums for household cleaning. But make sure that these items are pre-approved by your local dumpster company before you throw them in them.
Thus in a nutshell, if you find yourself discarding many of these substances, you need to be more careful since you could potentially be damaging the environment as well as yourself and risk your neighbors’ and the local trash collector’s wellbeing with such improper waste disposal methods.