By U.BATCHIMEG

In many developed countries, there are abundant trash cans installed with four different holes which people use for littering wastes made out of different materials like paper, glass, textile, and metal. These kinds of garbage cans simplify the process for sorting the waste. And other ways to sort dump is to install several garbage cans which people sort their waste and litter in them. However, in our country, there is no system and arrangement like this and it can easily lead people litter their waste without sorting it. In other words, many people are not really familiar with the term we can re-use or recycle those materials and make new ones with old ones. Perhaps, people might wonder why we should bother worrying when we litter our dump or waste. Here is why.

When it comes to waste, should we think of the outcome?

 Our environment is polluted by waste and dump which is one of factors of causing air pollution. For example, in the U.S.A, forty percent of the waste is land-filled, despite the fact that it recycles the waste. Therefore, in our country which has no recycling system, so many tons of waste and dump are land-filled. In soil, it pollutes the soil itself and river and even air. We, people, are product of our environment. Tuul River is the main leverage of water used by citizens of Ulaanbaatar. And the river is drying up day by day. As Ulaanbaatar, the capital city of our country has already air pollution from loads of cars and gers that are used coals in winter to overcome winter-the longest season, most of the waste that is land-filled causes air pollution, has it already been time to take some actions? Forget about recycling or littering the waste in trash can, there are so many uncivilized people in Mongolia who cannot even litter the waste when he or she stands right next to trash can on the street. Every country and city shows off how developed their country is through cleanness, pure environment, or how many trees they plant to have a clean environment each year. About a decade ago, many people were complaining about how they want to litter their waste in trash can but there are not enough trash cans in our city. However, I see sufficient enough trash cans in our city today, but I still see people who are littering their waste on the street or out the window when they are in bus although there are trash cans next to him or her. For instance, in Ulaanbaatar, people litter about 16 kg of waste on average a day. A citizen who lives in apartment litters about 250 to 300 grams of waste a day. If we see the waste the waste as composition, 34 percent of them are papers and satin paper bags. A student litters about 50 grams of waste a day and 60 percent of them are paper. This can show how much waste litters a day and also shows that it is possible for people to sort their waste when they litter it and it can be much easier to start recycling system as well.    

Recycling is a good deed

Good news. After discussing and researching, recycling factory for recycling waste and producing solid fuel has recently been opened. The factory has a capacity of recycling about 160 to 200 tons of waste a day and was established with the help of finance of the government of South Korea. The factory also has sorting technology which sort metal, can, paper, and plastic bags. With capacity of recycling 10 tons of waste an hour, the factory has employed 50 people. Not only does factory have good benefits for reducing waste by re-using it, but also creates places of employment for so many people, especially for people who have difficulty to find job and no citizenship status. The factory also can reduce about emission of 595 thousand tons of carbonic acid a year. Another way to reduce waste is being eco-friendly. Being eco-friendly is not about becoming a vegetarian. For example, eco-friendly activists around the world use a tumbler instead buying bottled water every day and save approximately five to seven bottles a week. Not only do tumblers reduce the number of bottle we litter each day, it also keeps the heat of water for several hours. By using a tumbler, we can help reduce the amount of waste heading to landfills and decrease the amount of pollutants that end up in water. If we gain weight and hear from doctor that we should lose some weight otherwise it would be harmful to our health, we will definitely lose weight. If we hear we can help our environment to be clean by reducing our usage of napkins or bottled water, why not take action like we do to our body?