Eco-friendly environmental waste practices are becoming increasingly important as climate change heightens around the world. In the United States, the fire season increased in multiple states, and burned hotter than it ever has. Because of this, it is time to take a look inside the different ways waste is managed. The most obvious management technique that is releasing pollutants into the air is open burning. This tactic is commonly used in emerging and developing countries, as well as the first world. This universal way of depleting one’s waste is used so often due to its ability to free up space at different dumpsites. This type of burning is significantly damaging to those who breathe it in. According to an ongoing report from 2012, “Waste burning is a significant source of dangerous carcinogens like dioxins and furans, and black carbon, a short-lived climate pollutant that contributes to climate change, increased melting in polar regions due to the deposition of soot and black carbon on snow and ice, and numerous human health issues.”

This quote sheds light on why this practice has become detrimental to those practicing. Sadly, the roadblock is difficult. Since this can occur in households, in garages, in forests, at landfills, it is a devious management technique that is hard to stop. In many countries, there are many different waste initiatives working to halt this practice of open burning. The easiest way to do this is to limit the amount of open waste on streets, and not allow for build up in certain areas. I have been working at my school to provide recycling cans on the campus instead of only trash  bins. This community outreach has been successful at our neighbor school, Borah High School. The benefits of halting open burning are myriad. This will act as climate change mitigation, and help raise more awareness about harder to swallow climate ignorance problems. By participating in clean waste management, the public health of the community will rise, more jobs will be provided, and conservation of resources will be better practiced for the surrounding community. 

While I have experience watching someone open burn landfill on their property, it is not as common of a practice in everyday citizen life. Insead, it is more beneficial if people can directly apply eco-safe waste management. This can be done by supporting and pushing more initiatives for the 3R’s concept (Reduced, Reuse, and Recycle). If we are able to successfully separate waste into their respective wet fraction and dry fraction, this will be beneficial waste management. By treating the wet fraction with regular composting methods, we are able to turn it into soil conditioners that even my home state of  Idaho’s farmers could apply. This will give back to these people, and provide incentive for successful waste treatment. The more difficult problem is the dry fraction of waste management, which many people decide to open burn, or use an incinerator that runs on fossil fuels. Instead, a hybrid incinerator could be utilized with gas power. This would be eco-friendly and manage dry waste effectively. This idea is still only on the cusps of research, and I am meeting to discuss with Idaho’s landfill order about this possibility.

Sources: https://www.ccacoalition.org/en/activity/open-waste-burning-prevention