Global waste could rise to 70% by 2050 as urbanization and populations continue to rise, according to the World Bank, particularly South Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa, are set to generate the biggest increase in trash. World Bank’s urban growth specialist Silpa Kaza states, “South Asia’s waste will double, sub-Saharan Africa’s waste will triple,” so, why is this happening? The waste itself isn’t from these developing nations; but, from high-income countries who only make up 19% of the population, while still managing to produce exceedingly more than a half of the waste in the world, “over 90 percent of this waste is dumped openly in lower-income countries that frequently lack sufficient disposal and handling facilities.” Canada alone generates 23.6 tonnes of garbage a minute, 1415.5 tonnes an hour, 84931.5 tonnes a day, beating a third of the economically stable nations in the world, producing a whopping 31 million tonnes of waste a year.
Nations could achieve environmental and economic benefits by better collecting, recycling and disposing of waste. Today, Germany has the best recycling rate in the world. Germany leads the development into a more environmentally friendly planet, recycling in between 52% and 56% of their municipal garbage. We can acquire similar results if we reduce our environmental footprint.
3 Easy Steps To Reduce Your Carbon Footprint
- Learn the 3 essentials R’s of being environmentally friendly, reduce, reuse, recycle. Moving towards zero waste is a great step towards combating climate change.
- Reduce your use of single-use plastic bags, and switch to biodegradable reusable bags.
- Drive less, walk more. The gas released from your car may not have a major affect on the environment, but there are around 1.2 billion people driving at the same time.
“You must be the change you want to see in the world”
– Mahatma Gandhi
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