GEOGRAPHY PROJECT

TOPIC:-

Name:-Diya S. Mehta

Roll no.:-

STD:-X B

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 INDEX

SR no. Topic Page Remark

no.

1. Introduction of 3
Waste Management

2. Effects of waste 4
accumulation

3. Safe disposal of 8
waste

4. Government, social 9
and individual
initiatives
5. Conclusion 13

6. Acknowledgement 14

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Introduction of Waste Management

A rising quality of life and high rates of resource consumption

patterns have had an unintended and negative impact on the urban
environment - generation of wastes far beyond the handling
capacities of urban governments and agencies. Cities are now
grappling with the problems of high volumes of waste, the costs
involved, the disposal technologies and methodologies, and the
impact of wastes on the local and global environment.

But these problems have also provided a window of opportunity for

cities to find solutions - involving the community and the private
sector; involving innovative technologies and disposal methods; and
involving behavior changes and awareness rising. These issues have
been amply demonstrated by good practices from many cities
around the world.

There is a clear need for the current approach of waste disposal

that is focused on municipalities and uses high energy/high
technology, to move more towards waste processing and waste
recycling(that involves public-private partnerships), aiming for
eventual waste minimization - driven at the community level, and
using low energy/low technology resources.

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Effects of waste accumulation
➢ Land:-

1. Ecosystems

It is disturbing to think that the wonderful benefits of a healthy

ecosystem are threatened by land and soil pollution. Hazardous
chemicals in the soil can potentially wipe out living organisms in
the soil. These organisms help to break down organic matter in the
soil and help aerate the soil. A polluted land or soil will therefore
not be able to support the plants and animals that depend on it in
keeping food chains intact.

2. Vegetation

Vegetation plays a vital role in climate control, food, water

purification, shelter and so on. The activity of mining, industry,
landfills and the like are destructive to vegetation and threaten the
benefits that vegetation provides.

3. Health

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There are many pollutants in soils that can be very harmful when
exposed to humans over long periods. For example pollutants in
soils such as Arsenic found in pesticides, mining of gold, lead and
copper are toxic when exposed to humans. Long exposures to
humans may cause arsenic poisoning. They can also cause skin,
heart, liver, some kinds of cancers and neurological damage.

4. Environments

Landfills, littered communities and places with dirty landscapes are

generally not attractive to tourists and visitors. This means such
communities usually miss out on the value and benefits of tourism
and investment.

In some cities, there are very bad smells, lots of rats, mice and
insects that spread diseases. These animals thrive in dirty places.
Governments spend a lot of money cleaning up and managing trash
and the polluted landscape. That money could have been used for
other important things such as healthcare and education. Many
landfills are always burning and they cause further air pollution.

➢ Water :-
Decaying organic matter and debris can use up the dissolved
oxygen in a lake so fish and other aquatic biota cannot
survive.

Excessive nutrients ,such as phosphorus and nitrogen

(including ammonia ),can cause eutrophication, or over-
fertilization of receiving waters ,which can be toxic to aquatic
organisms ,promote excessive plant growth, reduce available
oxygen ,harm spawning grounds, alter habitat and lead to
decline in certain species.

chlorine compounds and inorganic chloramines can be toxic to

aquatic invertebrates, algae and fish.

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 Bacteria, viruses and disease-causing pathogens can pollute
beaches and contaminate shellfish populations, leading to
restrictions on human recreation, drinking water consumption
and shellfish consumption.

Metals, such as mercury, lead, cadmium, chromium and

arsenic can have acute and chronic toxic effects on species.
Other substances such as pharmaceutical and personal care
Products, primarily entering the environment in wastewater
effluents, may also pose threats to human health and aquatic
life and wildlife.

➢ Air :-
. These are either deadly or have severe health risks even in small
amounts. Almost 200 are regulated by law; some of the most
common are mercury, lead, dioxins, and benzene. “These are also
most often emitted during gas or coal combustion, incinerating, or

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 in the case of benzene, found in gasoline, Benzene, classified as
a carcinogen by the EPA, can cause eye, skin, and lung irritation in
the short term and blood disorders in the long term. Dioxins, more
typically found in food but also present in small amounts in the air,
can affect the liver in the short term and harm the immune,
nervous, and endocrine systems, as well as reproductive functions.
Lead in large amounts can damage children’s brains and kidneys,
and even in small amounts it can affect children’s IQ and ability to
learn. Mercury affects the central nervous system.Polycyclic
aromatic hydrocarbons, or PAHs, are toxic components of traffic
exhaust and wildfire smoke. In one recent study, the children of
mothers who’d had higher PAH exposure during pregnancy had
slower brain processing speeds and worse symptoms of ADHD.

By trapping the earth’s heat in the atmosphere, greenhouse gases

lead to warmer temperatures and all the hallmarks of climate
change: rising sea levels, more extreme weather, heat-related
deaths, and increasing transmission of infectious diseases like

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Lyme. According to a 2014 EPA study, carbon dioxide was
responsible for 81 percent of the country’s total greenhouse gas
emissions, and methane made up 11 percent.

Safe disposal of waste

The ‘use and throw concept’ is one of the main reasons for the
accumulation of waste in the world as people have a tendency to
discard things after using them. This accumulation of waste has
some devastating and harmful effects on our atmosphere as well as
our biosphere. Landfills are the major breeding places for all kinds
of insects and rodents which increase the chances of spreading
various diseases in localised habitations. Although many measures
have been taken in the past several decades the main problem is
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 that the scale of waste accumulation is still reaching heights
because of the growth in the population and industrialisation. The
main challenge now is to detect the root of this global issue and find
a way to tackle it collectively.

There are several harmful effects if this is not controlled – soil,

water and air pollution being some. All these contribute to the
creation of greenhouse gasses and can result in ozone depletion. It
can also cause significant harm to marine life and wildlife.

The best methods of safe disposal are segregation and composting.

After segregating the waste and separating materials for reuse and
recycling, the waste material should be disposed of. Care must be
taken that waste disposal does not pollute the air, groundwater,
surface water and land.

Government, social and

individual initiatives

Government initiatives:-
The Central and State Governments own control and develop a
country's forests, dams, major irrigation systems, power stations,
industries, means of transportation, railways, roads, ports, etc. The
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Government is not just the protector of the country's environment
but also has a major responsibility for sustaining environmental
conscience.

In India, the Ministry of Environment and Forests is the main nodal

agency for generating environment consciousness and making and
implementing schemes for environmental protection.

The Government's environmental policy focuses on the following

areas:

1. To check degradation of land and water through Wasteland

Management and Restoration of river water quality
programmes.
2. To provide for conservation of natural resources by direct
action such as declaration of reserved forests, biosphere
reserves, wetlands, mangroves and protection of endangered
species.

Social Initiatives:-
Environmental protection is not the responsibility of the
government alone. All sections of the society have to participate in
this endeavour. It is ultimately the society that suffers due to
environmental degradation. Therefore, the society has to play an
important role in maintaining environmental standards in the
following ways:-

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 1. If air and water resources in an area are unfit and do not meet
the acceptable standard, the people of the area can organize
themselves and force the responsible agencies to take
necessary action.
2. If suitable action is not forthcoming they can, under the laws
of the land, file a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) and get their
problems solved.
3. Groups of individuals together. So it is the duty of each
individual to see that his/her actions do not pollute the
environment.
4. Groups of individuals together can make a huge difference in
maintaining environmental standards.
5. Air pollution, especially vehicular pollution can be minimized
by adopting car pool method. This will also save huge amounts
of money spent on importing petroleum from other countries.

Individual Initiatives:-
The role of every individual in environmental protection is of great
importance because if every individual contributes substantially,
the effect will be visible not only at the community, city, state, or
national level but also at the global level. It is the responsibility of
each individual to protect the Earth and provide conducive
environment for itself and innumerable other species which evolved
on this earth.

Each individual should change his or her life style in such a way as
to reduce environmental pollution. It can be done by following ways:
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1. Use carry bags made of paper or cloth instead of polythene.
2. Help more in pollution prevention than pollution control.
3. Use eco-friendly products.
4. Cut down the use of chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) as they
destroy the ozone layer. Do not use polystyrene cups that have
chlorofluorocarbons (CFC) molecules in them which destroy
ozone layer.
5. Use the chemicals derived from peaches and plums to clean
computer chips and circuit’s boards instead of CFCs.

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 Conclusion
Waste separation from the household level, proper storage , more
efficient waste collection systems and sustainable recovery and
disposal practices are identified as needed processes in the study
area .Considering the nature and components of the waste
generated by households and business places ,the waste reduction
,reuse, recycling and composting processes is more suitable in
managing the challenge.

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 Acknowledgement
I would like to express my special thanks to gratitude to my teacher
(Miss Sakina ) as well as our principal (Miss Meena ) who gave me
the golden opportunity to do this wonderful project on topic waste
management , which also helped me in doing a lot of Research and I
came to know about so many things .

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