Landfills: They stink in more ways than one.
In addition to their atrocious stench, they’re an eyesore for communities everywhere, and they take up valuable land that could be used for everything from parks to housing developments.
Via their helping to fulfill zero landfill initiatives and their focus on sustainability, zero landfill companies like LJP Waste Solutions make more room for human life and pleasant human life at that. After all, nobody wants to live in a place that constantly reeks of garbage.
Have you ever thought about how landfills affect the local wildlife, though? Indeed, the faunae that make up a local ecosystem are an important part of our natural environment and a major part of what sustainability operations aim to protect.
If your company is at all interested in sustainable waste solutions, you should educate yourself about what kind of effects these initiatives will have on the creatures, big and small, with whom we share our home. It’s quite disheartening! If your company already uses such solutions, it can be equally as heartening to learn exactly what creatures those solutions are working to keep safe.
Below, LJP Waste Solutions, a recycling company and commercial waste service, discusses how our environmental solutions can make a positive impact on the local animal population, and why your company would be wise to work with us to stop trash from ending up in landfills.
Animals Are Diverse, and the Problems They Face With Landfills Are Too
If you remember anything from high-school biology, you probably know that animals come in all shapes and sizes in a single environment and eat a variety of foods. Their behavior also varies based on circumstances.
Because even urban ecosystems are so diverse, it’s impossible to cover how every species in a single ecosystem suffers from the presence of landfills, but we can provide a brief primer below.
Certain animals may begin to rely on the landfill for food.
You very well could be encouraging bad habits in the local wildlife population depending on what exactly it is your company throws into a landfill. As predators learn to rely on landfills for food, the animals they once preyed on can grow unchecked, and their excessive population may begin wreaking havoc on both human existence and the natural ecosystem.
By partnering with LJP Waste Solutions, you ensure that your company leaves as little of an impact on the natural order of things as possible and that you work toward a more sustainable future.
Other animals may eat things they shouldn’t.
If your company throws away things that look like food to a given animal, but aren’t, you could be actively contributing to the death or disease of that animal. For example, marine animals have been known to ingest plastic, which can cause digestive issues and potential death.
Though Minnesota isn’t anywhere near the coasts, we do have quite a few lakes, and the birds and fish that live there could be vulnerable to similar mistakes. When you work with LJP Waste Solutions, you’re saving these creatures from a slow and painful death, as well as protecting native biodiversity.
Landfills cause air pollution concerns.
Another issue with landfills is that they emit multiple toxic gasses, including methane, one of the most lethal. These gasses are produced when organic matter begins to decay from different sources, and landfills can account for over 15% of emissions just in the US. It also contributes to trapping solar radiation, which means higher global temperatures, especially in areas where landfills are located.
In addition, it can create hazards like acid rain and depletion of the ozone layer, and directly affect plants by removing their ability to block the absorption of carbon dioxide, which helps in healthy functioning to create photosynthesis. Pollution from toxins like sulfur dioxide can affect the natural environment, including wildlife and other living beings, by affecting their respiratory and cardiovascular systems.
Individuals with asthma and the vulnerable population are more susceptible to the effects, and years of exposure can cause long-term health effects, making it an even larger concern.
Loss of life occurs because of them.
The development of a landfill site requires a large amount of space, and by creating it, there is a possible loss of between 30 to 300 species per hectare. This is potentially a significant decrease in life that may be contributing to creating a more sustainable and healthier ecosystem. The development can also cause further issues by some species being replaced by others that feed on the waste, meaning growth in potential disease-spreading animals.
In addition, because landfills become a dumping ground for toxic substances, the quality of the soil is going to be impacted by the landfill's presence. The lack of proper nutrients can affect the biodiversity and wreak havoc on local vegetation, which may be permanently altered. The environmental changes that can come from this are just another reason why incorporating recycling and sustainability practices can benefit the planet.
Even more creatures could be affected by the resulting water pollution.
Industrial contaminants have no place in our drinking water, and certainly not that of the native ecosystem, either. Even if a landfill is relatively isolated, toxic chemicals could still leak out into streams and rivers, harming the animals that drink from and live there.
Work with LJP Waste Solutions and do your part to ensure that this doesn’t happen!
Why partner with LJP Waste Solutions?
Our service is comprehensive, and we consider ourselves the best providers of waste solutions around. We’ve worked hard since 1993 to improve and innovate when it comes to sustainability, and we seek out clients who share similar goals, as we view ourselves as your partners in working toward a greener future.
Sustainability is more than just saving animals, though that is an important part; it’s creating a better planet for our children and grandchildren, and about giving back to the Earth what it gives to us. If we do not take responsibility for our environmental impacts, we leave those responsibilities to those who follow. It’s our duty to take charge now.
Doing so doesn’t need to be imposing or overwhelming. With our solution-focused and detailed approach, LJP Waste Solutions would be honored to work toward a brighter future with your company.
Ready to do your part? Give us a call today!
If environmental sustainability is important to your company, LJP Waste Solutions is here to help you take action. Give our North Mankato facility a call now at 507-625-1986. Somebody will speak to you shortly. We look forward to working with you!