Not too long ago, the presence of earthworms in the soil was overlooked because it was not thought to have any impact. But with further research, we now understand that biological life in the land is crucial to the development of crops. Earthworms have a variety of positive affects on the soil. For instance, they created vertical holes that allow rain to infiltrate the ground. They help neutralize the pH of the soil. They eat nematodes which could be harmful for the surrounding area. Their excretion help decompose the crops’ residue. They also create a topsoil which helps the growth of the plants. But humans have to do their part to aid the earthworms. They have to make sure they have a source of food such as soil residue and manure. Also, certain pesticides should not be used that might kill the earthworm population. Earthworms are often introduced to environments where they are not abundant in because of their long lasting benefits.

Plastic is a material that is used very often everywhere, but exactly how good is it for us? Although it is vital for certain things such as construction and infrastructure, there is still too much wasteful plastic in the world. 10.5 million tons of plastic waste is produced by Americans each year, but less than 5% of it is recycled. Much of the world’s plastic waste is thrown into dumps and oceans, contributing to the world’s pollution. About 50% of the plastic waste falls into one category – single use plastics. Since single use plastics are have health and ecological dangers, the use of single use plastics must be regulated.

Two of the most common types of single use plastics are plastic bags and plastic water bottles. After plastics bags are used once or twice, they are mainly forgotten and usually end up in the streets. These plastic bags eng up in sewers or drainage systems, increasing the risk of clogging such systems. This, in turn, increases the risks of floods – floods that have the ability to submerge countries! Plastics are also very harmful to marine wildlife. Plastics bags that end up in the ocean kill animals through choking and suffocation. Other types of plastics, such as from the netting or lines of fishing gear, also contribute to the 100,000 plastic entanglements of marine life in the North Pacific every year. Plastics are also very harmful towards humans because chemicals from plastics can end up in the human’s body through consumption of seafood, or even through water as someone drinks from a plastic water bottle. Some chemicals in plastics are carcinogenic, which can cause birth defects, skin diseases, vision failure, etc. Single use plastics is currently in a cycle that begins with human production, but ends with harmful effects towards wildlife and humans.

The use of single use plastics must be reduced. Even if the plastics are properly disposed of, its low density allows it to travel downstream into oceans. Plastics are also really expensive to make because they are made of organic carbon based compounds and must be derived from fossil fuels, which are nonrenewable gases. The cleanup cost of disposing plastics is estimated to cost $75 billion, according to the United Nations Environmental Programme. In the long run, single use plastics are harmful to the ecosystem and are very costly to properly maintain the use of it. To minimize the amount of plastic waste, all recyclable plastics must be properly disposed of. Proper legislation should also be taken to reduce the amount of single use plastics in the world to create a better environment to live it.

Sources:

http://ecologycenter.org/plastics/ptf/report1/

http://www.unep.org/gpa/Documents/Publications/ValuingPlasticExecutiveSummaryEn.pdf

http://www.cleanwateraction.org/sites/default/files/CA_Fact%20Sheet_final_0.pdf

http://www.sustainablecommunication.org/eco360/what-is-eco360s-causes/plastic-garbage

Food waste in the United States is becoming a serious issue, both from a social and environmental standpoint. Forty percent of food in the U.S. is discarded, with is economically burdensome as well, wasting $165 billion a year. It is estimated that on average, 1,640 tons of commercial food waste is created by New York City restaurants, hotels, schools, and other services. Unfortunately, the majority of this waste is not recycled, which contributes to perpetually growing landfills. In these landfills, the food waste decomposes and contributes to approximately 7% of overall greenhouse gasses annually. Recycling attempts such as composting and firmer food disposal regulations have helped to tackle this issue, however more needs to be done.

In addition to being harmful to the environment, food waste is a social issue as well; 42.2 million Americans live in households with very low food security. In particular, households with children, single parents, seniors, and black and Hispanic people experience higher rates of food insecurity. About 30% of the food currently being discarded is more than enough to feed the millions of Americans that do not have enough to eat. Food waste reduction methods that seek to send food to these households rather than landfills are ideal from a social and environmental viewpoint.

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/26/us/food-waste-is-becoming-serious-economic-and-environmental-issue-report-says.html

http://time.com/4037087/food-waste-united-states/

https://www.nytimes.com/2014/05/17/business/cities-and-companies-tackle-the-food-waste-problem.html

Bioswales are long channeled depression or trench that receives rainwater runoff from solid impervious surfaces and have vegetation and organic matter to slow water infiltration during rain storms. Planted with vegetation suited to boggy conditions, the bioswales act like miniature wetlands that filter out and biodegrade the toxins contained in the runoff.

Bioswales are designed to manage a specified amount of runoff from a large impervious area, such as a parking lot or roadway. Because they need to accommodate greater quantities of stormwater, they often require use of engineered soils. They are also linear systems that are greater in length than width and are vegetated with plants that can withstand both heavy watering and drought. The effectiveness of bioswales increases with increased contact time between soil and stormwater, and increased vegetative cover.

This is all best achieved by using soils that can adequately slow down, infiltrate, and retain water, as well as support plant life. In areas where nutrients are a concern to water quality, soils capable of retaining high amounts of phosphorus or nitrogen should be selected, along with plants that use nutrients very efficiently. Bioswales are a type of green infrastructure that helps clear the soil contaminants as well as the rain water contaminants ultimately improving the groundwater quality.