Background Info
It is important to have a landfill because what would you do with all of your garbage? The earth would start deteriorating, and people would start illegal dumping in their yards, then in neighbor’s yards, maybe people will start dumping in the ocean as well. This will cause conflict. So as you are reading think to yourself, “where would we put all of our garbage if there was no landfill.”
Cedar Landfill
The cedar landfill was opened in 1940 and is 5km away from down town Nanaimo. The regional landfill/cedar landfill receives more than 53 000 tonnes of garbage per year from the school district 68, and in addition they receive 22 000 tonnes of garbage from the Parksville transfer station. The cedar landfill size is about 37 hectares. A portion of the landfill is going to be turned into a park in 2014. The lifespan of the landfill will be up to 2028. They may start incinerating the garbage. Incinerating would still be bad for the environment because it can pollute the atmosphere with toxic chemicals. It also would probably take a lot of energy.
The landfill has a bulldozer like vehicle with big metal spikes that crushes the garbage down. This helps make space for garbage and this is important so that we do not need to expand the landfill quicker.
Landfill’s Pet
At the cedar landfill they have a pet named Patty Cakes. This is not a normal pet like a cat or dog, it is a hawk. You are probably wondering why they have this hawk. They have the hawk to scare away the seagulls and other birds so the birds do not get sick and mess up the food cycle. So the birds do not interfere the garbage sorting. A kitten has got caught by a hawk and is right now the kitten is recovering at the SPCA. Two kittens that were recently caught by the hawks in cedar landfill both died.
Patty Cakes the Hawk
Do not let your cats loose if you live near the Cedar Landfill.
Illegal Dumping
Illegal dumping has been a long lasting problem in our community. In 2010 41 tonnes of garbage was found that was illegally dumped and after found was disposed properly. Illegal dumping has a very bad impact on the environment. Bears can develop a taste for human garbage. This could lead to the bears getting killed scavenging for food in peoples yards and can become a nuisance. If someone illegally dumps their garbage it can cost everybody in the region. The deliverer of the illegal waste can get a fine of $200 000.
Illegal Dumping
There will be big consequences.
The End
I hope that you learned something about the Cedar Landfill and why it is important to have a landfill in your community. You can help the environment by recycling as much as possible, considering the environmental impact on what you buy and how you live, help buy cleaning up garbage that has not been disposed of properly and reporting any illegal dumping activities.
