Trash can be found anywhere, from the bottom of the ocean to the streets in our neighborhood. Trash can also be really dangerous both to the animals and the environment.
I joined a volunteer group at school where we pick up trash in the neighborhood. From those cleanups, I realize that there is a lot of different types of trash. Some can be recycled and some cannot. Usually, the trash that cannot be recycled will go to a dumpster or landfill. But the thing is, rich first-world countries would dump their landfill trash in the poorer countries in exchange for trade and money. Sometimes these countries don't have enough space (or they don't know what to do with them) so they dump it into the ocean or burn it. This pollutes both the ocean and the land. Some trash would get washed far out to sea but some would also get washed up back to land. Although trash doesn't affect humans if it's far out at sea, it affects the animals and plants that live there. There's even an island in the Pacific made entirely out of trash that turns the water around it into a mushy trash soup.
According to a report written in 2021, Canada is estimated to be the country that produced the most waste - 1,325,480,289 metric tons. Although there is a lot of land in Canada, the land is not used to store trash. Instead, Canada often sends its trash to other countries like Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam, and the Philippines.
Not too long ago, countries like China and Malaysia started to send back the trash if it was not sorted properly. Some recycling companies would even send away their trash in exchange for money rather than properly recycling the trash. Others turn their trash into cubes and put them up for auction, which usually result in the trash ending up in a landfill anyways, except in a compressed form.
I am from Indonesia and moved to Vancouver last year during Christmas. If you didn't know, Indonesia has been receiving tons of trash from all around the world. Trash burning and dumping are a regular occurrence there. Some local businesses have even switched from using coal to plastic when cooking to keep the trash under control. However, some plastics are toxic, which creates a problem. Landfills have also been overflowing, so Indonesian citizens have begun to send their trash into the ocean. This ruins our beaches (one of our main tourist attractions and an important economic source) and damages the environment.
Although there have been many people who have tried to help through ways such as making strong, biodegradable plastic with cassava or sorting trash to see which ones can be used for fuel, events, and competitions, such efforts are not enough. Furthermore, it’s not just Indonesia that is struggling with this problem. If Asian countries will no longer accept trash, this will also be a problem for European and North American countries.
There are many types of trash. Different trash means that there should be different ways to deal with them. Some trash is easier to deal with, like food waste. But some trash types are harder to deal with, such as plastics. Although people have found ways to substitute these kinds of trash, we still need to do something about the current trash in the landfill.
Despite there being a lot of other problems in this world (e.g. war, human rights, politics, etc.), I feel like taking care of the world is equally important because the Earth is the only inhabitable planet we have right now. I do not want people who are born in the future to have to deal with the actions we committed (the same goes with the other problems). I feel like this issue is something we can all agree on and work together towards solving by uniting scientists, volunteers, small business owners, and regular citizens from around the world. Everyone can do their part to participate in this effort and help maintain a cleaner planet.
Author: Ivena Lois Susantadiredja
Biography: Ivena is currently a Grade 9 student at Lord Byng Secondary School in Vancouver, BC. In her free time, she likes to read, play badminton, and sleep. Although she is still adjusting to living in Vancouver after a move, she is optimistic about her future!
References
CBC News. “Tracking Your Plastic: Exposing Recycling Myths (Marketplace).” CBC News, 27 Sept. 2019, www.youtube.com/watch?v=c8aVYb-a7Uw&t=2s.
Evers, Jeannie. “Great Pacific Garbage Patch | National Geographic Society.” Education.nationalgeographic.org, 2 June 2022, education.nationalgeographic.org/resource/great-pacific-garbage-patch.
Sebastian, Andrew. “5 Countries That Produce the Most Waste.” Investopedia, 2019, www.investopedia.com/articles/markets-economy/090716/5-countries-produce-most-waste.asp.
“Where Canada Sends Its Garbage.” 10000changes.ca, 10000changes.ca/en/news/where-canada-sends-its-garbage/#:~:text=Canada%20and%20other%20countries%20are%20now%20shipping%20waste. Accessed 19 July 2022.
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