Auburn: Reducing Paper Waste for Environmental Sustainability - Essay Sample

Introduction

The rate of use of paper in Auburn is alarming. However, the most astonishing thing is the waste of paper while there are many strategies that Auburn people can put to making sure that there is no paper waste. There are heaps of papers that get wasted unnecessarily while people should be putting the effort in reducing the amount of paper used by putting into recycling. Environmental sustainability in terms of reducing paper waste will be necessary for environmental quality. It is important for every member of Auburn to be responsible for the proper use of paper to overcome the challenge of paper waste.

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The main issue with this problem is that it has led to environmental pollution (Villanueva, Alejandro, and Peter). Most of the paper waste in Auburn undergoes incineration which has threatened the public health. It is such that when the paper waste is burned, there is the release of exhaust gas into the atmosphere. The particulate matter such as soot and smog are the pollutants that stay in the atmosphere and contribute to threatening the health which then causes problems in humans such as respiratory and cardiovascular. There are a majority of the people in Auburn who have had to deal with health issues out of paper waste which can be recycled.

The cause of much paper that ultimately results to waste is the use of paperwork in all dealings such as banking and billing. Most companies that are in Auburn make use of paper and there are no proper ways to dispose of them. This problem of paper waste is a common issue around the world as there is excessive use of paperwork. The issue with its use is that there are no proper strategies to ensure that these papers are disposed of well. The only existing way to ensure the waste is cleared is through burning the papers.

One big problem of paper waste in the world is that of the Philippines. The area currently produces close to 35,000 tons of solid waste and these are a sizeable proportion of the refuse that is openly burned which had further worsened the quality of the city which is already heavily polluted (MacEachern). The effect of the paper waste problem around the world is mainly environmental pollution both in the air, water and also land. What one can learn from the example of the paper waste in the Philippines is that there is a need for alternative ways to deal with papers after using them such as recycling rather than burning.

The local community is doing the most to address this problem. The community has set up programs to encourage the reuse of materials. The old papers could be used for a number of ways such as cleaning windows and glass, making weed barriers wrapping gifts, for ripening fruits and in the fridge among other ways. The community is encouraging people to reduce the waste of paper by facilitating education to teach people on the development and expansion of recycling activities of papers.

The community is also expanding and enforcing the existing recycling laws so that people are well informed of the consequences of paper waste in terms of environmental pollution. The community has implemented unit-based pricing where under this program, residents and businesses which generate less waste of paper will be paying less for disposal. This system of pricing has been functional in helping to drive recycling rates of paper from the industries. The paper companies that have more waste of paper pay more for the disposal hence the community members focus on reducing paper waste. The efforts of the community have been effective in making sure that there is less use of paper and that when used, it is recycled.

Some of the other solutions that would address the problem more effectively include many companies switching to paperless billing and also online banking (Rillen). The Auburn community needs to cross over to the present digital times as it will not only save the area of environmental pollution but also save money. There are many newspapers lying all over the area and it would do the region a great deal if people read and watched news online or subscribing to the digital version of the local papers. Almost every other newspaper has an app which gives access to the digital version of the subscriber. An alternative for the people who cannot tolerate reading on a tablet or a computer would be getting to the library.

Being responsible especially for paperwork and in a bid to protect the environment, it will be important to keep what you have to keep. An example is keeping papers that will be needed later on or for the tax reasons. This way, it will reduce paper waste as these others that one does not need could be used for other activities.

It is the high time that people living in Auburn recognize the impacts of paper waste on the environment so far. The community is doing its part to make sure that they educate people on paper waste prevention and the need for recycling but there is still much needed since the effects have not been significant up to this far.

The strategies for recycling paper will include office paper reduction where the offices can work on their paper disposal. This way, they will increase their productivity while reducing the time and money that is spent when handling the paper waste. There also need to have packaging materials management where the packaging materials which are mainly paper can be recovered.

The governments need to put up mandatory recycling programs. These will help to ensure that most companies are participating in the activities of recycling. Mandatory recycling more so for the large waste producers will divert the trash for such businesses to other useful products. The municipalities can reinforce their programs of recycling with waste bans.

Waste management is a complex area in all dimensions whether legally, technically and commercially (Porter). There are only a few organizations which can rely on the services of waste collection that the local authorities provide as the complete answer to the obligations of waste management. A key development in the management of waste is focusing on the prevention of the production of waste paper through companies minimizing its use.

The reuse of paper waste through recycling is also important. The procurement issues have a direct link with the management of waste in that there is a need for carefully selecting materials, the suppliers, and process redesign which reduces the amount of waste produced. There is a steady rise in the tones of paper waste being produced in Auburn and there is a need for members to solve this issue.

Works Cited

MacEachern, Neil. "The environmental impact of paper waste recycling: A comparative study." (2009).

Porter, Richard C. The economics of waste. Routledge, 2010.

Rillen, Kristen. Methods of Paper Waste Reduction in the Environmental Sector. Diss. Duke University, 2014.

Villanueva, Alejandro, and Peter Eder. "End-of-waste criteria for the waste paper: Technical proposals." Publications Office of the European Union, Luxembourg (2011).