Toxic Waste Effects Essays - Waste, Toxic Waste, Chemical Waste

Toxic Waste Effects Canada and all of the developed countries in the world produce some kind of toxic waste(s). It doesn't matter whether it's a chocolate bar wrapper or a canister of highly radioactive plutonium, they're potentially dangerous to us and/or our natural environment unless properly disposed of. Toxic waste is defined as any waste that is hazardous to human health or to our natural environment. According to the Institute of Chemical Waste Management, about 15% of our garbage is classified as toxic, and only 85% (approximately) of that is disposed of properly. The rest is either illegally dumped or accidentally mixed up with non-toxic garbage. That 15% may not seem like a lot, but when you consider the millions of tons of toxic waste that we produce every year, that 15% is enormous. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) estimates that we produce one ton of toxic wastes for every single person living in Canada every year. That means that the 15% represents about 4.2 million tons of toxic waste. Toxic wastes which are dumped in improper sites can seep into underground water supplies and contaminate huge areas. If the land that is intoxicated supports plant life, most of the plants and trees will die off. If the area is lived on by humans, it could cause serious illness or death. For example, an area by Niagara Falls (US side) was used during the 1930s by a chemical company to dump it's wastes. Most of them were hazardous, and the containers that held the chemicals later (after the company had gone out of business) began to leak. The chemicals spread for miles killing off plants and causing cancers and deadly diseases in humans. Included in these wastes was a chemical called dioxin... one ounce of it used under the right circumstances was enough to kill off everyone in living in Toronto. One of the most popular places to dump toxic wastes is in the oceans. People figured that the oceans were so huge that garbage would just disappear, and sink to the bottom. Well, they were wrong. Chemicals have turned up in dead whale bodies and dead fish in high enough concentrations to kill people. Medical wastes such as used needles and vials of blood (some carrying the AIDS virus) have washed up along the Atlantic coast and in one of the Great Lakes. Mutated and disfigured fish as well as other water animals have washed up dead or been caught by fishermen. The list of stories goes on, and it's still growing. Canada and the USA have created laws and regulations to try to stop the illegal dumping of toxic wastes and the destruction of our environment. The US has created a multi-billion dollar fund called SuperFund to try and clean up areas that have been contaminated. Canada is also working along those lines. The government has made a prioritized list of recognised hazardous dump sites, and is forcing the company that owns the land to pay for the clean-up of the area. If the company no longer exists, or the exact origin of the waste is unknown, the government will pay for the clean-up. Some toxic wastes can actually been turned into something useful, or in other words 'recycled'. For example, several kinds of metals can be recycled. Lead and silver (both are heavy metals, which are classified as toxic wastes) are both recycled and used again. About ? of the lead used in the country is recycled, and about ? of the silver is recycled. Other toxic wastes can be chemically 'transformed' into new products. This is done by adding chemicals to the waste, which causes it to change into something new. Philadelphia and Chicago transform sewage sludge into fertilizer, which is put to use on farms. A huge pile of toxic waste looms over Canada. This waste is not the product of some Natural disaster like a tidal wave or a hurricane. It is a man-made pile of deadly garbage that threatens our very existance. Who is responsible for this pile? The answer, is 'us'. We are the people who buy the cheap food which was grown with the help of chemical pestisides. We are the people who demand the electricity created by the nuclear power plants. We are our own worst enemies. Pogo, a comic strip character who I learned about last year in english once said... We have met the enemy, and he is us. Science Essays

Free Essays on Critial Thinking

I never really knew what it was like to appreciate other people or be different in a sense from other people. I was kind of apprehensive when it came to hanging out with people who were different than me. Whether it was physically or mentally. This of course was around the age of 17, when I was under the impression to be cool and in the â€Å"in-crowd† you had to hang amongst people normal like me. But who’s to say I was normal? I guess I just decided that if I was not deformed physically or had some sort of mental problems than I was considered normal. Well wouldn’t you consider yourself normal too? I remember the times where I was cruel to people less fortunate than myself. I know there was this one instance in high school, where this kid called George was rather diminutive. He also had some sort of social problem, maybe mental. But I am not a doctor to diagnose this. The point is that I would poke fun at the kid or simply bother him because he was different. I didn’t feel he was normal. Back then I had no remorse for my actions, although now after my learning experience I can say I felt bad for what I have done in the past. Not only to him but also to anyone I might have bumped paths along my childhood whom I did not consider normal. I can attribute my transformation of my old beliefs to my current beliefs to a close friend whom I grew up with during our childhood. Her name is Delilah. One day Delilah asked me to come and work with her at a camp near her home in Monticello, New York since she had moved from Queens over four years ago. I didn’t really know what it was all about but I figured what the heck, if nothing else I would at least get a few community service hours out of it for my high school’s Christian service program. Of course I always had to find some sort of personal gain out of things. I could never do something of this nature voluntarily. I guess it was not in me at the time. Nevertheless I agreed. When I w... Free Essays on Critial Thinking Free Essays on Critial Thinking I never really knew what it was like to appreciate other people or be different in a sense from other people. I was kind of apprehensive when it came to hanging out with people who were different than me. Whether it was physically or mentally. This of course was around the age of 17, when I was under the impression to be cool and in the â€Å"in-crowd† you had to hang amongst people normal like me. But who’s to say I was normal? I guess I just decided that if I was not deformed physically or had some sort of mental problems than I was considered normal. Well wouldn’t you consider yourself normal too? I remember the times where I was cruel to people less fortunate than myself. I know there was this one instance in high school, where this kid called George was rather diminutive. He also had some sort of social problem, maybe mental. But I am not a doctor to diagnose this. The point is that I would poke fun at the kid or simply bother him because he was different. I didn’t feel he was normal. Back then I had no remorse for my actions, although now after my learning experience I can say I felt bad for what I have done in the past. Not only to him but also to anyone I might have bumped paths along my childhood whom I did not consider normal. I can attribute my transformation of my old beliefs to my current beliefs to a close friend whom I grew up with during our childhood. Her name is Delilah. One day Delilah asked me to come and work with her at a camp near her home in Monticello, New York since she had moved from Queens over four years ago. I didn’t really know what it was all about but I figured what the heck, if nothing else I would at least get a few community service hours out of it for my high school’s Christian service program. Of course I always had to find some sort of personal gain out of things. I could never do something of this nature voluntarily. I guess it was not in me at the time. Nevertheless I agreed. When I w...