What should not be thrown in the trash

What do we usually do with unnecessary things? We throw it into the trash. Sorting? Come on, who needs it. As a result, hazardous waste ends up in garbage cans, and from there to city dumps, where their second story begins, which threatens our health. From groundwater, heavy metals and chemicals enter rivers and artesian waters. The toxins from the burnt waste are released into the atmosphere and pollute the environment. Maybe you should start with yourself and admit that the word “disposal” is not an empty phrase?

Each house has a clock, computer mice, flashlights or remote controls, and other equipment that runs on batteries. Inside these energy sources are zinc, nickel, cadmium, manganese, mercury, lead, that is, metals that tend to accumulate in living organisms. In landfills, the metal coating of the batteries is destroyed, and all the “filling” gets into the soil and groundwater. Environmentalists warn: one finger battery pollutes about 400 liters of water and at least 20 square meters of soil. That is, in order to forever forget about summer cottage harvests on your six hundred square meters, you need to scatter only 30 batteries over the site. Thoughtlessly poisoning all living things around and losing drinking water is very simple, and it will take decades to restore the balance of nature. That is why there is a warning sign on the packaging for the batteries, which means “Do not throw it in the trash, you must hand it over to a special disposal point.”

Since childhood, we have become accustomed to throwing incandescent lamps into general waste, not thinking that it takes many years for glass to completely decompose in nature. But even bigger enemies for the environment have appeared – these are energy-saving and fluorescent lamps. They, of course, last longer, and they save electricity, but the harm from them is colossal. Fluorescent lamps are filled with mercury vapor, and this is the most dangerous factor for nature and humans, so they must be taken for recycling. Experts disassemble devices, isolate heavy metals, and reassemble them for reuse. Find out where in your city there are collection points for old lamps (often found in malls or specialty stores) and take hazardous waste there.

Mercury thermometers can be called silent killers. No wonder, when they accidentally break in clinics, they call the Ministry of Emergency Situations to collect mercury balls and disinfect the premises. Even 2 grams of silver drops are enough to get poisoning of the body, however, it will not be momentary, but delayed: weakness, irritability, headache, dizziness, weight loss, increased fatigue. Mercury is a very heavy metal. Spreading around the apartment, it does not disappear anywhere, but settles on the walls. If you inhale these vapors for a long time, there is a risk of developing various diseases, including cancer. In the dustbin, a discarded, shattered mercury thermometer is also deadly poisonous.

The home first aid kit needs to be regularly sorted out and sorted out expired medicines. What’s next? After all, they cannot be thrown into the sewer. A study in the United States showed that water bodies located near cities contain a large amount of harmful hormonal drugs that affect the flora and fauna of rivers. Chemistry gets there along with household waste. In Russia, from 0,6 to 1,0 million tons of medical and biological waste is generated annually, but the methods of disposal of pharmaceutical waste are not regulated by law. The only thing left to do is to throw away the drugs, making it as safe as possible from their effects, for example, of stray animals. Remove all tablets from blisters, crush and mix with something unattractive. Pour into a hard jar, close tightly and bandage the container with a bag, in this form, throw it into the trash. If you still have unnecessary medicines and they are usable, give them to those who need them.

It is not for nothing that you keep paint and varnishes out of the reach of children and pets during repairs. Many types of paint contain substances that are poisonous and highly flammable. Never pour paint into the water mains or on the ground – this can damage pipes and contaminate the soil. If you have no one to give the unused paint to the end, let it dry completely in the jar, and only after that you can throw out the container.

Household appliances, electronics

In landfills, home electronics parts chemically react with moisture and various liquids. Electronic boards, wires, contacts begin to emit harmful substances, therefore, in large cities, homeowners’ associations and management companies are obliged to organize “places of accumulation of solid municipal waste”, where we should take our old refrigerators, televisions and even irons. Large networks selling electronics often organize promotions for the reception of audio and video equipment. Indeed, in its obsolete technology, in addition to hazardous substances such as mercury, lead, cadmium and others, there are valuable types of metals – platinum, gold, silver.

It can be decorative paints, hair sprays, deodorants, air fresheners. The compressed gases, thanks to which we manage to squeeze the necessary product out of the cartridge, are volatile and explosive. Empty steel or aluminum containers can be recycled or discarded. Filled cylinders can explode in a garbage press and cause a fire, therefore they must be completely emptied of liquid and only then disposed of.

Discarded tires emit harmful substances into the soil and air for 100-120 years and are classified as waste of the fourth hazard class. There are substantial fines for unauthorized disposal of such waste. Mosquitoes and rats like to settle in landfills in used tires. And if the car tires catch fire, then the black acrid smoke pollutes the entire environment. If the tires are handed over to the designated points, then 1 kg of new wheels or a dozen sports grounds with a soft surface can be made from 600 ton of unnecessary raw materials. For creative car enthusiasts, unnecessary rubber tires can serve as flower beds and ornate fences for a long time.

Recently, more and more often they talk about the pollution of the environment with “summer cottage” pesticides. These include pesticides that are used to control garden pests; herbicides that kill weeds; defoliants and desiccants – substances that dry leaves and plants on the vine. Some toxins from chemicals accumulate in the soil and in the organs of living organisms, including humans. If you are not ready to switch to alternative non-toxic substances and still use such “chemistry”, then in no case pour the excess into the toilet or sink. Better give the leftovers to someone who finds the right use for them.

Explosive and flammable objects must not be thrown into the trash – this is obvious. If the container at the lighter is not yet completely empty, then it is necessary to free it from the fuel and only then get rid of the plastic case. But it is better to immediately buy models that can be refueled with gas or gasoline again: there is less waste and savings on the purchase of new lighters.

Dear car owners, you can even get money for old batteries if you hand them over to special collection points. Do not store power supplies in the garage “just in case” – they emit sulfuric acid vapors. And if you throw them away, you will cause serious harm to nature. Lead, alkalis and carcinogenic compounds in the battery case are especially dangerous.

What do we usually collect all this trash into? Into environmentally harmful plastic bags. Polyethylene containers do not undergo biodegradation processes, which means that when they enter the ecosystem, they destroy it. Many places on the planet have turned into real plastic dumps, about 6 million tons of garbage fall into the oceans annually. Birds, marine mammals, countless fish are dying. Many countries have already declared bags to be enemies of the environment and have begun to introduce a ban on the use of polyethylene as packaging. You can come to the grocery store with reusable fabric bags or special eco-bags, and throw garbage into eco-bags. By the way, plastic bottles can also be recycled.