Prevent Land Pollution

Land pollution, in other words, means degradation or destruction of earth’s surface and soil, directly or indirectly as a result of human activities. We have all heard the R's: reduce, reuse, recycle. Following the various methods will help to prevent land pollution and create a cleaner earth.

Steps

Reduce Your Waste

  1. Reduce the use of harmful products to the environment. Ways to reduce pollution in your home:
    • Buy biodegradable products.
    • Store all liquid chemicals and waste in spill-proof containers.
    • Eat organic foods that are grown without pesticides. Look out for fertilizer or pesticide free products when you go to the market.
    • Don’t use pesticides if you can.
    • Use a drip tray to collect engine oil.
    • Buy products that have little packaging.
    • Don’t dump motor oil on the ground.
  2. Reduce the amount of plastic you use. Researchers fear that such plastic bags may never fully decompose; instead, they gradually just turn into smaller and smaller pieces of plastic. How to reduce the amount of plastic you use in your home:
    • Don’t use garbage bags—just empty your trash into the garbage bin.
    • If you don’t like that approach, get yourself some recycled or biodegradable, compostable garbage bags.
    • Request that your daily newspaper not be wrapped in plastic when delivered. (Or cancel your newspaper subscription and go totally online for your news fix– you’ll save hundreds of trees as well.)
    • Take your own plastic or metal container to the restaurant to take home your leftovers when you’re eating out. Sure they’ll look at you funny, but remember you’re an eco-trend-setter!
    • Remind your favorite take-out place to leave out the plastic utensils, straws, napkins, and condiment packets when they pack your food to go. And politely decline the bag if you only have one or two items to carry home. Better yet, dine in the restaurant where you can use a real plate and fork.
    • Take reusable bags with you to the store. Decline the bag if you only have a few items.
    • Ask your favorite dry-cleaners to eliminate the plastic wrap on your clothes. Don’t forget to choose an eco-friendly, non-toxic dry cleaner too.
    • Pack a waste-free lunch to take to office or school.
  3. Reduce your garbage amount.
    • Properly maintain all underground storage tanks, like oil, septic, and sewer lines. Have your septic tank pumped on schedule and look for signs of leakage, such as soggy areas in the yard, odor, slowing and backups in the home, and excessive plant growth over a particular area. Most septic systems need pumped every three to five years.
    • Be diligent about picking up and disposing of trash. Dispose of animal waste into a septic or sewage system as promptly as possible--do not leave it on the lawn or place it in a storm drain.
    • Do not burn trash, particularly plastics or tires, because the residue in the smoke will settle and pollute the soil.
  4. Reduce paper use.
    • Choose digital subscriptions, statements, and bills.
    • Ask to be removed from junk mail lists and avoid signing up for new ones.
    • Say no to receipts.
    • Dry Your Hands with One Paper Towel. Use a washable fabric towel when you're at home. If possible, carry a small fabric towel with you to school or work, too. Bring it home occasionally and wash it with the rest of your laundry.
    • Use reusable fabric cloths, a feather duster, or a broom instead of paper towels or Swiffer.

Change Your Water Habits

  1. Plant native species and plan your plantings in a way that minimizes runoff. This will help reduce the amount of water and lawn chemicals needed to maintain your yard.
  2. Water your lawn as infrequently as possible. Water more deeply and in the morning when it is cooler. This prevents nutrients from leaching out of the soil during excessive watering and reduces the need for fertilizers, while encouraging a deeper root system in your lawn.
  3. Wash clothes in cold water whenever possible. As much as 85 percent of the energy used to machine-wash clothes goes to heating the water.
  4. Use a water filter to purify tap water instead of buying bottled water. Not only is bottled water expensive, but it generates large amounts of container waste.
  5. Bring a reusable water bottle, preferably aluminum rather than plastic, with you when traveling or at work.

Reuse

  1. Reuse paper alternatives.
    • Choose recycled paper products such as notebooks, toilet paper, paper towels, etc.
    • Invest in reusable dinnerware
    • BYOB. That is, bring your own bag to the grocery store and other shops. Bring your own, reusable shopping bag. Many reusable bags are available at supermarkets and hardware stores, and several fashionable and reusable shopping bags can be found for more style savvy shoppers.
    • Boycott paper towels. Instead use rags and cloths to clean.
  2. Reuse technology.
    • Buy re-manufactured ink and toner cartridges. Each re-manufactured cartridge keeps approximately 2.5 pounds of metal and plastic out of landfills and saves about a half gallon of oil.
    • Buy rechargeable batteries. Batteries are filled with toxic materials that are terrible for the environment, so go green by buying batteries that you can recharge. There are also special companies that will collect your old batteries and recycle them safely. It takes 1,000 regular batteries to equal the lifespan of one rechargeable battery. When you are discarding your batteries, recycle them.
    • Purchase rewritable CDs and DVDs so that you can reuse them from project to project, or write to a USB thumb drive or SD card.

Reuse Water

  1. Use "gray water" on ornamental gardens and plants. "Gray water" is a term for water that has already been used in showers, bathtubs, sinks or dishwashers. This water is certainly not fit for human consumption, but it is clean enough to be used in gardens and on plants around the house. Bathwater or shower water is best, but water that has been used to wash dishes is also okay, as long as there's not too much grease or food left on the dishes before they go into the washer. Water may be collected manually by scooping it out of the bathtub, or drainage pipes can be re-routed to a small storage tank.
  2. Use sink water to flush toilet waste. {{safesubst:#invoke:convert|convert}} of water are used by each person each year in developed countries to flush away only {{safesubst:#invoke:convert|convert}} of waste! To make water usage more efficient, some water can serve two purposes before it leaves the home. Since it's not necessary to flush a toilet with clean water, pipes can be re-arranged so that gray water from the bathroom sink will fill the toilet's tank.
  3. Harvest rainwater. Just place a barrel at the bottom of a downspout and collect rainwater there. The EPA claims that a house with a 1,500 square foot roof in a region that gets at least {{safesubst:#invoke:convert|convert}} of rain a year could potentially collect {{safesubst:#invoke:convert|convert}} of water annually. This water may then be used for watering lawns and gardens.

Recycle

  1. Recycle every day. The best way to recycle is to do it every day in your home and wherever you go. Remember to sort newspapers and magazines, plastic containers and bottles and assorted paper into your recycling and urge your friends and family to look out for ways to recycle too!
  2. Recycle your outdated technology. According to the EPA, Americans throw out two million tons of e-waste each year. Avoid adding to that waste by recycling your old technology. For more information on electronic recycling, visit http://www.epa.gov/epaoswer/hazwaste/recycle/ecycling/donate.htm.
  3. Make recycling bins readily available. Make sure your home and office are outfitted with recycling bins for paper, plastic and metal. Keep them out in the open and label them appropriately. Sometimes the convenience factor is all that is needed.
  4. Recycle your empty ink and toner cartridges. Almost eight cartridges are thrown out in the United States every second of every day. That's almost 700,000 cartridges per day.
  5. Look for the recycled option in all the products you buy. It's not just paper that is recycled.

Tips

  • Take classes about biology and land to better understand how to help the environment.
  • Take classes on agriculture.
  • Read books about the topic to better understand how to perform these actions yourself.

Sources and Citations

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