When the Council truck takes your household rubbish away, you're probably glad to see it go and not think about it again until the next time. But the story doesn't end there because your rubbish has to go somewhere and this could be to a landfill site or an incinerator.
Unfortunately, landfill sites are open eyesores. They also stink to high heaven, attract vermin such as rats and pollute the land.
Unfortunately, landfill sites are open eyesores. They also stink to high heaven, attract vermin such as rats and pollute the land.
Landfill Site
Among the worst features of landfill is that the energy and resources used to create the materials we discard are wasted. At least incinerators reduce the amount of waste that has to be buried and generate useful heat energy. The downside is that incinerators pollute the atmosphere which can affect climate change.
The problem is we live in a disposable society, so we have a tendency to buy new things rather than repair and re-use the old. This is partly due to the development of cheap materials like plastic.
For example, a lot of men nowadays buy disposable razors rather than the old style, re-usable wet razors and women buy disposable nylon stockings.
A few years ago I was involved in the refurbishment of an old Victorian building in London and was amazed to discover that the external wall cavities were full of site waste - broken bricks, pieces of wood and old newspapers etc. Nothing it seems went to waste in Victorian times.
We're all in the habit of throwing things away. But the disposable society we're living in can't last for ever because of the environmental problems we're storing up for the future.
For example, there's so much plastic waste in the oceans, it's now becoming part of the food chain with the potential for serious and long-term health problems.
Wood is a traditional material that can and has been re-used for centuries and we can learn from it's use. Waste wood can be converted to new wood products like wood flooring and garden decking. Old wood, railway sleepers can be used as building timbers.
Waste wood, with the addition of adhesive, can be shredded to make composite panel materials like chipboard, blockboard and mdf. It can also be made into garden compost or used as a fuel. Slivers of wood can be used as a cheap packing material (wood wool)
A recent study concluded that over half the rubbish we discard can and should be recycled. This means that we could be making a tremendous reduction in the amount of raw materials and energy we use and helping to preserve the planet at the same time.
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