Chapter 1: Definition, Source, and Garbage Shape
Garbage is an unwanted residual material after the end of a process. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), garbage is something that is not used, disliked or something that is discarded that comes from a human activity process and does not happen by itself. Based on its characteristics, garbage is divided into two, namely organic garbage and inorganic garbage. Organic garbage is perishable garbage like leftovers, vegetables, dry leaves, etc. This garbage can be further processed and becomes compost. While inorganic garbage is garbage that does not decompose easily like plastic, wrap food, paper, toys plastic, bottle, drink glass, cans, wood, etc.
Based on its source, there is garbage that comes from nature, the garbage that comes from humans, the garbage that comes from consumption, the garbage that comes from nuclear, and garbage that comes from mining. An example of garbage from nature is fallen leaves, the garbage from humans is feces and urine, garbage from consumption is wrap food, plastic bags, etc, the garbage from nuclear is uranium and thorium, the garbage from mining is carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, and various chemicals that are poisonous.
Based on its shape, garbage is divided into two, namely solid garbage and liquid garbage. Solid garbage is all solid waste like kitchen garbage, yard garbage, plastic, metal, glass, etc. Based on the ability to be decomposed by nature, solid garbage is divided again into two, namely biodegradable garbage and non-biodegradable garbage. Biodegradable garbage is garbage that can be decomposed by biological processes, like kitchen garbage, animal remains, agricultural garbage, and plantation garbage. Non-biodegradable garbage is garbage that cannot be decomposed by biological processes like plastic, glass, clothes, etc. Liquid garbage is a liquid ingredient that has been used and not used anymore and put into a garbage bin. The example is liquid garbage resulting from toilets, liquid garbage resulting from the kitchen, and liquid garbage resulting from bathroom and laundry places.
Chapter 2: The Problems of Garbage
There are so many bad impacts that can be caused by garbage for the public. The inappropriate location and bad garbage management can give us a serious health impact. Basically, garbage is old, dirty, and wet so that is a perfect place for some organisms like bacteria and viruses to stay in. That also became the perfect place for animals like mice, mosquitoes to stay. The bacteria which live in garbage can cause serious diseases, like diarrhea, etc. That kind of disease can spread so fast because bacteria that live in rotten garbage can contaminate the water that we drink. Besides that, in the rainy season, the area with bad garbage management can be a proper place for the Aedes aegypti mosquito to reproduce. That can be because dengue fever increased
Garbage also has a bad impact on the environment. In the aquatic ecosystem, organic garbage which is thrown away into the water can reduce the oxygen level in the aquatic environment. Inorganic garbage which is thrown away also can reduce sunlight entering the aquatic environment, thus resulting in a disrupted photosynthesis process for the plant which lives there. Organic garbage and inorganic garbage make the water become turbid. Garbage destroys the aquatic ecosystem by releasing harmful chemicals into the ocean and killing sea animals in various ways. Decomposition of garbage can also create an organic acid and organic liquid gas, such as methane that can become toxic. Besides causing an unpleasant smell, this high concentration of gas can cause explosions. That kind of pollution also affects humans as well when they consume marine life affected by garbage pollution.
In the ground ecosystem, the garbage that is dumped directly can make organisms, like bacteria and animals, like rats, cockroaches, etc appear. Besides that, the garbage that is not thrown in a good place can make a plant difficult to grow because the root cannot go through the soil to take the minerals which are needed by them. Liquid garbage can also give a bad impact on the natural groundwater because the garbage has a poisonous element that can kill a microorganism that is needed to clean the water.
Garbage also has a bad impact on the economic and social segments. For example, garbage which is not thrown in a proper place can make a very bad view and also can make unpleasant smells. That bad view and the unpleasant smell can give a bad influence on our tourism, and our society’s health. That also can cause a flood in a rainy season which can destroy public facilities like roads, bridges, rivers, etc.
Until now, the garbage problem has still become a big problem for our government to solve. The high level of public consumption in Indonesia makes the garbage problem become worse every day. In 2018, Indonesia has become the second-largest garbage-producing country. There are several efforts that the Indonesian government makes in order to overcome that problem. For example: making some regulations about the uses of plastic bags, building some places that can process the garbage into something useful with 3R (reduce, reuse, and recycle) concepts, building garbage-based power plants, Nowadays, there are a lot of organizations who care about garbage. They try to collect inorganic waste and reproduce it into something new.
Chapter 3: How to Handle Garbage
The efforts above have been able to reduce the garbage increase. But this still can’t solve the garbage problems. Because of lateness the discussion of garbage reduction makes society lack awareness to reduce garbage and protect the environment. Other than that, the existing regulations are also not in focus for garbage reduction, because only focus on managing how the waste is managed as much as possible without any new regulation to stop the product which produces plastic garbage. And transporting garbage to the last process place can make garbage scattered when brought and polluting the environment.
Baca juga: Teks Persuasi: Ayo Melakukan Reboisasi!
Garbage management organizers should focus on reducing garbage, which is to prevent a product from becoming garbage as much as possible. If it has been done as much as possible but there is still new garbage, only then handled with garbage handling. The efforts that need to be made to increase our society’s knowledge about the bad impact of garbage on our health and environment by giving them socialization. For example: if society has the awareness to put garbage in a proper place, the problem like flood and a disease that can be caused by the garbage can be reduced. That must bring a lot of advantages to them, they will be safe from floods and diseases caused by that, invite the public to sort garbage and throwing garbage in the garbage bin, multiply the garbage bin, set up the garbage bank which coordinated by the head of the respective RT by way of exchange garbage with groceries, give proper punishment to someone who does littering, and invite the public to recycle organic and inorganic garbage.
Conclusion
Garbage is something that is not used, disliked or something that is discarded that comes from a human activity process and does not happen by itself. Garbage can cause various bad impacts on the health, environment, and social economics segment. Until now, garbage is still a problem in Indonesia. To overcome that problem, the government has already taken a lot of efforts like increasing public awareness and also making a regulation about the use of plastic bags and plastic wrap in the economic field. But, the efforts still can’t solve the garbage problem. The effort must be given mainly by increasing public awareness of the dangers of waste to the environment.
