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HUMAN HEALTH AND LAND POLLUTION: SOLID WASTE
Each day, every person in the United States generates about 4 pounds of municipal solid waste. By the year 2000, solid waste generation was projected to reach 216 million tons daily, or 4.2 pounds per person. Approximately 73 percent of this waste is buried in landfills. Cities and smaller communities throughout the country are in danger of exhausting their landfill space.
As communities run out of landfill space, it is becoming more common to haul garbage out to sea to dump it or to ship it to landfills in developing countries for dumping. Recycling now accounts for only 26 percent of garbage treatment. Experts believe that as much as 90 percent of our trash is ultimately recyclable. Recycling is not a new word or concept in the United States. During World War I, the Depression, and World War II, scrap materials, bottles, clothing, and other goods were recycled regularly because of scarcities. In today’s throwaway society, we need to become aware of the amount of waste we generate every day and to look for ways to recycle, reuse, and - most desirable of all - reduce the products we use.
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GENERAL HEALTH
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