Discuss One environmental problem facing cities and outline some solutions Essay Example for Free

Discuss One environmental problem facing cities and outline some solutions Essay Discuss One environmental problem facing cities and outline some solutions The issue of a severe problem called solid waste in Manila and Beijing is becoming a matter of concern. Causes of numerous waste aroused widespread attention. Therefore, the solution to reduce greenhouse gas emission from solid waste management can be regional and international (Ooi, 2009, p.189). It seems that waste has become an important part of the environmental problem in cities. Waste can be divided into two distinct parts, hazardous waste and non-hazardous waste, and the non-hazardous waste is consisted of municipal solid waste, industrial waste and some other types (United States Environmental Protection Agency, 2012). Because of the large amount of waste, government needs to spend more human and financial resources. Therefore, some additional environmental problems in cities are related to waste, such as air pollution, water pollution and the greenhouse effect. This article will introduce the causes of municipal solid waste, industrial waste and hazardous waste, and some effective prevention methods to solve these problems. The spawning of municipal solid waste, which including residents living garbage, hospital waste and commercial waste, building waste, leads to the most serious problem. Most of human behaviour could cause the growth of solid waste. Materials which are thrown away by citizens, such as the product bottles, food scraps, newspapers and batteries are the direct causes of solid waste. Consequently, effective methods need to be implemented. The most direct method is to decrease the amount of waste. To perform the principle of waste prevention, the society should focus on the recycling and collecting, which means to withdraw useful and organic materials, then turn these items into new products. This method could reduce the needs of raw materials. In addition, waste can be used as a resource and it will be economical use (United States Environmental Protection Agency, 2012). Manufacturing and industrial procedure are the most direct cause of industrial waste. Stone tools and sickles are difficult to be seen in current-day, because in factories, up-to-the minute production lines that produce numbers of waste per day are used as a substitute for wood and stone. To show an example, by 1990 the amount of industrial waste has raised  up to 265 million tons, which is a shocking figure to the public (Waste Industries, 2013). Hence, the city government should provide a convenient environment for factory managers and convince them that they should undertake the environmental responsibility. Meanwhile, managers should comply with the principle of recycling industrial waste. Therefore, waste management issues in cities should be people-oriented (United States Environmental Protection Agency, 2012). Hugo (2012) stated †Some industrial waste management services companies even emphasize on understanding clients’ industrial processes that produce waste and then supplying the tools for deterring accurate chemical and physical properties.† In addition, hazardous waste is damaged in both human health and the city environment. Solvents, electroplating wastes, heavy metals, and acids, which all produced by laboratory and chemical plant in cities cause substantial accumulation of hazardous waste. In agriculture, citizens’ non-standard behavior of using pesticides can lead to the generation of hazardous waste. Moreover, non-standard behavior in city life can also cause the creation of hazardous waste, such as batteries and some items containing heavy metal thrown away by citizens (Harris et al, n.d.). Thus, cities should take some actions to reduce producing hazardous waste. In industries, numbers of methods need to be done. For instance, melt materials like batteries can be recycled. To recover resource and lean production, Harris (n.d.) claimed â€Å"Zinc can be gathered from smelting furnaces. Used oil, hydraulic fluids, refrigerator compressors and more can be taken from cars and fridges.† Citizens should pay attention to establishing especial collection facilities in cities. Considering the problem of land, the city government needs to find a suitable place in the city where could offer special disposal of toxic waste (Harris et al, n.d.). In recent years, the number of waste becomes a growing tendency, which is a common phenomenon, has aroused wide concern in cities. The causes of waste are the spawning of Municipal Solid Waste, industrial activities and citizens’ and industries’ non-standard behavior. What is more, to decrease the amount of waste, citizens should standardize their behavior and use waste as a resource, and managers should release their environmental responsibility so that factories could reduce the discharge of industrial waste. Government needs to establish especial collection facilities in cities and find a suitable place for toxic waste. In conclusion, the whole society should pay close attention to the problem of recycling and reducing. Citizens of the future may be more environmentally conscious than people in the current society.