Essay on Land Pollution

Abstract

After intensive research with the data analysis, we concluded that land pollution would soon be an issue for the City of Windsor. The primary reason is the constant increase in the population. With the rise in the population, there is an inevitable increase in the garbage disposal, which in turn raises the fear of land pollution.

The following are the primary outcomes of our research:

Population Statics

Our team comprises individuals having industrial and research work experience in the field of Mechanical, Electrical, and Industrial engineering. A few of us did research specifically on Climate change and pollution during our bachelor's degrees. This diversified experience enabled us to do effective research on Windsor's climate and provide a workable engineering solution.

Windsor is a city located at the southern end of Canada in Ontario. It is a popular tourist destination as it is near the U.S. city of Detroit across the Detroit River. The city is also recognized for its Automotive Industry and cultural diversity [1].

Windsor is the third fastest-growing city with a 2.5 percent population spurt, according to the latest census data released by Statistics Canada. Windsor's 2019 population statics, making it the third most populated city in Southwestern Ontario, after London and Kitchener [2].

The development of Windsor city is predictable with its growing industries and manufacturing legacy, with the census having been performed in 2016 which indicates that the population has risen since the earlier census in 2011 from 319,246 people to 329,144 in Windsor-Essex county. That is an increase of 3.1% over the five years [3].

Reasons for Increase in Population

Windsor is becoming the hub for landing new immigrants after Peterborough at 3.1% followed by Kitchener and Waterloo at 2.6% [2]. The unemployment rate in Windsor is 5.4%, which is lower than the 6.8% national unemployment rate. Real state prices in Windsor are slightly low compared to other cities in Ontario [4]. Windsor is also a home for those who commute daily to the USA for jobs or study purposes.

Land Pollution

Pollution is created by human activities and natural disasters. There are three types of pollution — land, air, and water. Primary sources of land pollution are industries, overcrowded landfills, construction debris, and solid waste [5].

Waste Composition

In 2010, Essex-Windsor residents generated 153,8193 tonnes of waste and diverted approximately 38.5% (or 59,229 tonnes) through its various waste management programs. The Annual Waste Diversion Report for the Essex Windsor Solid Waste Authority (EWSWA) presents the total waste generated in Essex-Windsor to be 151,653 tonnes. The waste composition consists mainly of organic materials (41%), other refuse (22%), recyclable paper (20%), and different recyclable types of material (18%) [5].

Each resident in Windsor generates approximately 471 kilograms of waste. Essex Windsor Solid Waste Authority is responsible for the overall management of solid waste and recycling; the City of Windsor staff is responsible for collection [6].

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Causes of Land Pollution

Approximately 50% of Windsor Essex garbage is organic waste [7]. Organic wastes contain materials that originated from living organisms. There are many types of organic waste, and they can be found in municipal solid waste, industrial solid waste, agricultural waste, and wastewater [8].

Recent analyses show that coffee cup lids account for more than 104 million in number to the City of Windsor and Essex County. These are not recyclable and thus affect us. Also, 216 million plastic bags as throw away in Windsor- Essex in a year; these also fall into the category of non-recyclable items. Plastic bottle lids and caps, toilet bowl cleaner spouts, pump lids, plastic tubes such as hand lotion tubes, toys, patio furniture, and shovels, are all not recyclable. An estimated 10,000 tonnes of plastic waste end up in the Great Lake. Plastic straws are used in huge quantities all over Canada. About 57 million straws and used daily all over the country [9].

Effects of Land Pollution

Coming from different parts of Asia, where due to an increase in greenhouse gases the depletion of the ozone took place, which resulted in drastic climatic changes in a few countries. Therefore, arresting of these greenhouse gases in Windsor is necessary to prevent such detrimental effects.

An estimated 10,000 tonnes of plastic waste end up in Great Lake [9]. These wastes decompose and produce methane, which is a greenhouse gas that leads to global warming. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) estimates that landfills are the third-leading cause of methane emissions in the U.S., thus affecting their climate adversely, this could be the condition for Canada in the near future if we don’t control it [10].

Landfill gas contains many different gases. Methane and carbon dioxide makes up 90 to 98% of landfill gas. The remaining 2 to 10% includes nitrogen, oxygen, ammonia, sulfides, hydrogen, and various other gases. Landfill gases are produced when bacteria break down organic waste. The amount of these gases depends on the type of waste present in the landfill, the age of the landfill, oxygen content, the amount of moisture, and temperature [11].

Windsor and London are the last two large municipalities in the province that don’t have organic waste collection. Environmental services manager Anne-Marie Albidone has said that they are planning to ban food and organic waste from reaching landfills by the year 2022 [12].

Necessary action must be taken toward Waste Management such that it improves health and creates a clean environment. Hence we are focusing on improving waste management in Windsor.

Recycling is something everyone can do daily; many of the things we use every day like paper bags, soda cans, and milk cartons, are made out of materials that can be recycled. The problem is that if we don’t recycle, we will increase the amount of pollution. We would destroy more habitats that can affect wildlife and sea life; also our water, air, and land will be polluted [5].

Solution—Abstract

To minimize the effect of land pollution happening Reduce, Reuse and Recycle items [5]. Converting organic waste into biogas and compost can be an effective way to deal with the problem. It is economical and easy to implement. Turning plastic into fuel is a way of dealing with plastic bottles and bags present in the garbage.

4 References

1. Z. Rush, 'Let's do something to combat pollution,' 17 01 2013. [Online]. Available: https://windsorstar.com/news/local-news/lets-do-something-to-combat-pollution. [Accessed 03 10 2019].
2. D. Battagello, 'Windsor tied for the third fastest-growing city in latest StatsCan census data,' 29 3 2019. [Online]. Available: https://windsorstar.com/news/local-news/windsor-third-fastest-growing-city-in-latest-census. [Accessed 03 10 2019].
3. World Population, 'Windsor Population 2019,' 2019. [Online]. Available: http://worldpopulationreview.com/world-cities/windsor-population/. [Accessed 03 10 2019].
4. Dangerous Real State Team, 'Living in Windsor,' 2019. [Online]. Available: https://www.dangemus.com/town/living-in-windsor. [Accessed 03 10 2019].
5. exp, 'Essex Windsor Solid Waste Authority,' 12 2011. [Online]. Available: http://www.ewswa.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/Essex-Windsor-Draft-Waste-Strategy-Dec-2011-for-review.pdf. [Accessed 3 10 2019].
6. The City of Windsor, 'Waste Diversion Through Recycling and Composting,' 2019. [Online]. Available: https://www.citywindsor.ca/residents/environment/Environmental-Master-Plan/Goal-D-Use-Resources-Efficiently/Pages/Waste-Diversion-Through-Recycling-and-Composting.aspx. [Accessed 03 10 2019].
7. CTV News Windsor, '50 percent of Windsor-Essex garbage is food,' 04 10 2017. [Online]. Available: https://windsor.ctvnews.ca/50-per-cent-of-windsor-essex-garbage-is-food-1.3619072. [Accessed 02 10 2019].
8. Encyclopedia, 'Organic Waste,' 01 10 2019. [Online]. Available: https://www.encyclopedia.com/environment/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/organic-waste. [Accessed 05 10 2019].
9. W. S. Sharon Hill, 'Earth Day,' 18 4 2019. [Online]. Available: https://windsorstar.com/news/local-news/earth-day-windsor-essex-needs-to-get-off-the-plastic-bandwagon. [Accessed 4 10 2019].
10. J. Worland, 'How Your Trash Is Contributing to Climate Change,' 22 9 2015. [Online]. Available: https://time.com/4042559/trash-climate-change-landfill/. [Accessed 06 10 2019].
11. New York State, 'Important Things to Know About Landfill Gas,' 4 2010. [Online]. Available: https://www.health.ny.gov/environmental/outdoors/air/docs/landfill_gas.pdf. [Accessed 04 10 2019].
12. Brain Cross, 'Windsor food waste to be banned from regular trash, starting 2020,' 30 7 2018. [Online]. Available: https://windsorstar.com/news/local-news/windsor-food-wastes-to-be-banned-from-regular-trash-starting-in-2022. [Accessed 4 10 2019].