Just in case you had not already heard, the state of Florida has a slightly bizarre occurrence taking place. A local landfill is sinking into the Earth and, as a result, toxins are likely to leak into the area water supply. This is just one example of how our overflowing landfills are racking up the points against us because we still consume and discard, and not support more fully the idea of recycling and reusing. We’ll take a glimpse at the situation in Florida and then talk about just how it illustrates the potential for landfills worldwide to end up being recognized as bona fide nightmares of an ecological sort.

According to a current report from WUSF http://www.wusf.usf.edu/news/2010/12/16/sinkhole_under_landfill_is_growing), the radio station for the University of South Florida, apparently a sinkhole is opening underneath a landfill which serves Hillsborough County approximately 20 miles away from Tampa, Florida. Even as the authorities continue to attempt to understand what to do regarding this crisis, it looks like a terrifying one, to say the least. Official measurements say the sinkhole is as deep as a 4 story building is tall. Literally loads of garbage from Tampa Bay area households has already fallen into the hole.

What’s a major cause for concern is the indisputable fact that leachate could very well start to leak downward into the area water supplies. Leachate is a substance that is a fluid containing adverse chemical elements, according to Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leachate). Any such contaminated fluid seeping into the region’s wells is definitely bad news for the drinking water in this part of the Tampa area, but it is also a possible signal of a larger scale problem.

Tampa, Florida is certainly not the only soft soil region around the world where all the tons of human compiled trash may possibly descend through the ground and then directly into the water supply. Although solid waste is generally regarded as less difficult to manage than some other types of human made pollution, once it begins to break down into leachate, the situation changes. Things like detergent containers and typical plastic shopping bags include petroleum based compounds we do not want in our drinking water.

Even as it is unquestionably demanding to singlehandedly take on the impact of a whole landfill, these garbage disposal locations are all comprised of garbage from countless individuals. That means each of us plays a role in how swiftly they are filled. Such options as using biodegradable bags as an alternative to typical plastic bags may seem unimportant, however when you think about how things add up, it carries a large impact. After we decide to recycle by using reusable green bags rather than choosing traditional bags, we’re putting a foot forward for a cleaner world.

So while a sinkhole will possibly not open in the Planet beneath a landfill near you any time soon, rest assured that if we take no action like events are prone to continue happening worldwide. Because of this, it is not just Florida facing this dilemma – we all play a role in making daily decisions that impact the planet.

Dean Prater is a highly experienced author conversing about green and reusing dilemas in addition to dispersing the knowledge to businesses to employ seed cards to market both their trademark and cognizance for the environment.