Landfill Visit
– by Tey Su Yin (Management Consultant)
It was a site visit for ISO 14001:2015 Environmental Management System project…
I felt overwhelmed, sad and disgusted after visited the landfill. I think everyone should visit a landfill in their lifetime and definitely, it will change your perspective on consuming, trash and trashing.
For me, after seeing the “other side” of where our waste goes, it has made me even more aware and knows that change can start with us. Municipal trucks, carrying a few tons of waste, hurtled up and down the road, leaving behind clouds of dust. And as you go nearer to the dumping site, the foulest smell ever entered my nostrils. The mask felt useless. At this one location, 80-100 tonnes of waste will be transferred here every single day. It is unbelievable to think about how we humans can generate so much waste on a daily basis.
Driving past the landfill, you get to see colourful plastic bags everywhere. Many of us out there do aware that plastic bags have to go into the recycling bin but it seems the message hasn’t sunk into everyone’s mind out there. This results in having scavenger to do the sorting, not just of plastic bags but also of other items that can be found in the landfills. And the odour was awful.
How can we help?
Good practices start in the home and there are lots of things we can do to reduce our volume of waste and recycling, they include:
• Separate your waste, what can be recycled, you recycle.
• Taking your own bags and containers.
• Saying no to plastic bags at all costs.
• Carrying a reusable coffee cup, water bottle and cutlery.
It has made me more obsessive about educating people about the importance of environmental management. It’s empowering to know that change can start with us.
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