Better to burn or landfill garbage?

Question

We just moved to an area where we have the option to burn our garbage or take it to the dump. Either way it seems bad for the environment, but is one better than the other? Obviously we wouldn't burn everything, just the stuff that made sense.

Answer 1

Compost

Answer 2

nothing personal Erin from---,i am answering a general attitude ,not yours ,because you are concerned since you asked the question,

when there is inteligence there is hardly any trash to worry about

not much of a choice

why cant you classify your trash and recycle ,the plastics ,glass and metals

batteries seperate .

and all of the organic waste goes on the compost ,

70% of all contamination comes from organics mixed with regular trash ,

is all of this so diffficult ,

they manage to do this in many countries ,

like the Netherlands and other North Europeans

are you Americans so different ,(Americans are from tierra del Fuego to the north pole )

are you another specie ?????

who cannot live in a sustainable way,

in harmony with the Environment

on which your very survival depends

i have been working with a Mexican municipality ,as an Environmental consultant ,and they must b e the worst people    yet when it comes to keeping  their back and front yards clean ,kids playing in trash ,dead pigs and horses floating in the river ,the most common bird on the river banks are the vultures .

etc

so North Americans are still way ahead of them.

peace

Answer 3

Start with the fact, "There is only waste.   No trash;  Trash means non-reusable."

What can be done with waste?  Different people have found many ways to use refuse, or waste, by recycling methods.

As the first person mentioned, you can turn a good portion of refuse into compost.  

A compost drum is set up and all vegetable, scrap paper, news paper, leaves from you bushes (no weeds), grass cuttings (no weeds), and other types of household items that decompose  can be put in, the drum turned to mix it up good and let it alone, as the first generation used up the starter you have a good compost growing.  You only need more starter if you empty the entire load and start over.

By adding more of the leaves (some dried to help with the composting process), lawn clippings, and some more shredded paper you can keep making more compost all the time.

(no animals, no animal waste, or no human waste, and although cattle manure is a common garden additive compost made with common household vegetables, grass clippings, and dry and fresh tree or bush leaves is better for gardening.)  I found out the hard way that not all bagged compost is,  Rocks are not topsoil compost, yet I found them in a bag, Cattle manure is still manure but some bags have it mixed in the dirt and other debri and call it compost.

Compost is the cleanest and best garden soil replacement when made with the ingredients that are listed for the compost barrels.

Everything else is rip off.

Metals can be turned in at recycling centers and old clothes and such can be given to a good reuser.

By the time you learn all the ways you can reuse all the things we use and separate them you will only have about one bag of trash a week, or if you really practice recycling, that one bag could be, one a month.

Best thing to do, I found, is learn about what you can buy that has all the similar products and reduce buying the kinds of things you buy that leave you with a bunch of waste.

For example if you must have carbonated cola you can actually buy a device that will turn your favorite flavors of Kool Aid into carbonated drinks.

Answer 4

landfill because burning your garbage releases many harmful fumes including one that can be fatal which obviously make it bad for our enviornment. Landfill containment structures have become more advanced over the years making them more effective at containing waste.

Answer 5

Hmm...-Choosing between bad & worse, how fun is THAT? Not! If you can recycle alittle- too, I'd think burning your garbage would be the better bet. That way it's not lying around for years- slowly poisoning the soil in a landfill & eventually getting into the groundwater...

Answer 6

dont know good question i would think burn cause then it doesnt fill up the earth

Answer 7

Recycle paper, plastic, glass, and metal.  Instead of getting plastic bags at the grocery store, re-use canvas bags.  Compost vegetables, non-citrus fruit and eggshells.  We used cloth diapers (disposables at night) and do all of the above.  We end up with 1 small kitchen garbage bag for the dump every week for a family of 4.

For stuff that's still useable, garage sale, charity, or freecycle them.