The biggest environmental challenge that has been witnessed in the US since time immemorial has been land pollution. It can be defined as the disposal of material wastes into the soil or substances that can contaminate it. This type of pollution can be caused by different reasons, such as garbage disposal and increased mining activities. In the US, an average person was found to be producing 4.4 pounds of waste a day, which means that annually people produce 500 billion pounds of garbage (Artiola et al., 2019). Garbage disposal has become an issue in the cities as the waste pits set to be used for this purpose have already been filled with tons of trash. People do not know where to dump their garbage as the incinerators do not disintegrate the waste wholly, making it still an issue to the environment (Artiola et al., 2019). Cities that ship their trash to other countries increase the land pollution in those regions, and those who dispose trash illegally contribute to land pollution here, in the US.
The increase in land pollution can be associated with the high rates of deforestation in the country. Americans do not plant new ones to replace those that were chopped down, making the ground susceptible to soil erosion. Moreover, due to the illegal dumping of more garbage in the land, the fertility of the soil is destroyed; hence, people have to depend on food imported from other countries. Disposing waste in the soil makes the land polluted as plastic materials do not decompose (Artiola et al., 2019). Through dumping garbage in other countries, those regions become American dustbins. Disposing waste everywhere may increase environment’s toxic levels and poison the soils.
Different methods can be employed to ensure citizens minimize pollution in the US. Companies need to encourage their consumers to recycle and re-use their plastic containers to reduce the number of non-decomposing substances being dumped all over the country (Artiola et al., 2019). Companies may also use packaging materials that are biodegradable as this will ensure that the soil is preserved. The government can ensure that all companies do not dispose any wastes into the soil. Cities need to use incinerators to burn down their wastes and stop dumping the garbage in other countries as it affects the regions’ lands, making them infertile and poisonous.
Reference
Artiola, J. F., Walworth, J. L., Musil, S. A., & Crimmins, M. A. (2019). Soil and land pollution. In M. L. Brusseau, I. L. Pepper, & C. P. Gerba (Eds.), Environmental and pollution science (3rd ed., pp. 219-235). Academic Press.