Oh, Big Blue....

Have you seen her? Have you marveled at her beauty? She is beautiful isn't she. Oh, Big Blue what have they done to you?

You might have heard the phrase, "Don't judge a book by it's cover." The same term can applied to earth. Yeah, she might look beautiful from the outside and if you were an alien looking at her you most likely would be tempted to make her your home. Your overwhelmed with excitement only to get struck down with disappointment as you notice her beauty has been stripped away from her. Then after you see the ocean's, air, and land polluted by humans you travel back to tell the others what the human beings have done.

Waste

Everyone has trash and that trash has to go somewhere. However, there are almost 7 billion people on this earth which means every day there is MORE than 7 billion pieces of trash thrown away. Some of it gets burned, a few recycled, but most go to the landfills. You might say, "Oh well, it's going to decompose some time," yes that's true but it will still take years for some to decompose: Decomposition facts

EPA states:

It's a Health Hazrd

Most people who burn their waste do not realize how harmful this practice is to their health and to the environment. Current research indicates that backyard burning is far more harmful to our health than previously thought. It can increase the risk of heart disease, aggravate respiratory ailments such as asthma and emphysema, and cause rashes, nausea, or headaches. Backyard burning also produce harmful quantities of dioxins, a group of highly toxic chemicals that settle on crops and in our waterways where they eventually wind up in our food and affect our health. The Human Health page provides more information about the dangers of dioxin.

In fact, in 2006, U.S. residents, businesses, and institutions produced more than 251 million tons of municipal solid waste, which is approximately 4.6 pounds of waste per person per day. In addition, American industrial facilities generate and dispose of approximately 7.6 billion tons of industrial solid waste each year.

Over 40 million tons of hazardous waste is produced in the United States each year. It is produced by large industrial facilities such as chemical manufacturers, electroplating companies, petroleum re fineries, and by more common businesses such as dry cleaners, auto repair shops, hospitals, exterminators and photo processing centers. The EPA has produced a list of more than 500 hazardous wastes an d works closely with businesses and state and local authorities to make sure these wastes are properly treated and disposed of. The EPA also conducts risk management studies to ascertain the potential health effects of exposure to these wastes and oversees Superfund and other programs that clean-up contaminated waste sites.

You can learn more about the different type of waste at the EPA's website: www.epa.gov...

Our waste does not just end up on land but in the oceans, lakes, rivers, and any body of water that has life in it. This causes many marine life to believe the waste is food not knowing it's a death trap.

Oh Big Blue, what have we done to you.

[edit on 7-2-2010 by bputman]

Mods could you please post this thread in the Fragile Earth forum. That's where I was going to put it but accidentally put it here. Thanks.

Couldn't agree more. I am so SO sick (to the point where what I would type here would get me warned or banned) of people littering. People as a whole are incapable of understanding how to live cleanly or just don't care. Nothing more fun than driving behind and smoker and watching that last bit cig go out the window to the street below.

My friend once was at a red light and saw this, got out and threw it back in the dude's window. He almost got beat to heck but man I gotta admit that after the chase it felt awesome to see it

-Kyo