LLC Article 15–18 years old: 2nd Place

BROWN IS THE NEW GREEN (Israel)

Imagine a mountain of garbage piling up, mostly containing food leftovers that each one of us discards to the trash every day. No, not to the brown bin, but to the green one, and instead of turning a nuisance to a resource we lose big, once for the outrageous waste of resources and a second time for the environmental hurt, the smell, the wash of toxins to our ground water and what not?

So what is that organic waste that, handled correctly, can make all the difference?

Organic waste is waste that includes leftovers of food, plants, animals, peels or trimmed foliage that originates from degradable domestic garbage. This garbage is usually decomposable by insects or other organisms (Wikipedia, 2019).

According to publications of the Israeli Ministry of Environmental Protection, 5.4 million tons of domestic and industrial waste is being produced annually in Israel (2014) out of which organic waste constitute 1.8 million tons. The rate of total waste production in the country increases by 1.8% every year while each resident produces about 1.7 Kg of waste every day. 80% of the waste produced is being buried in landfills while only 20% is being recycled (adam, Teva v’Din, 2011). A generally accepted bothering piece of data.

organic waste, effectively treated, can be turned into compost in a simple process that requires no special resources. Based on natural occurring decomposers, fungal and bacterial microorganisms, that feeds of organic waste to produce perfect fertilizers for plants containing vital minerals that enable plant growth. These microorganisms work for us, all we are required to do is provide them with organic waste that was separated from other waste (source separation) and was discarded in the… brown bin. How simple.

Yes, not just food remains from domestic sources turn to compost, other sources exist as well. Agricultural waste includes stubbles, stalks, and crops leftover as well as animal manure from cows, poultry, pigs, sheep or goats. Sludge from wastewater treatment facilities or pruned branches and trimmed foliage from forestry and private or municipal gardening are all compostable as well.

Waste is an inevitable product of a modern human society. population growth as well as the increase in the standard of living, results in accumulation of waste that remains mostly untreated. Lack of proper waste treatment may cause many hazards such as: land and groundwater contamination, air pollution and greenhouse gases emissions, pathogens incubation and increased spreading of diseases, safety hazards in flight routs, visual and smell hazards and decrease in land value. Waste buried in landfills requires expensive land resources and has an environmental, economic and health related effects (Israeli Ministry of Environmental Protection, 2019).

We have decided to investigate this in Gadera, where we live, to see if this bleak projection we have described is relevant to our home town. In order to do so, we have distributed a survey among Gadera residents, mainly high school students and their parents. The survey was distributed among 66 participants.

Surprisingly, we have discovered a high level of awareness towards organic waste and its importance. 41% of the interviewees separate organic waste on a regular basis, while most complained about the small amount of brown recycling bins, their accessibility and the long time it takes for the municipal authority to empty them. Encouraged by these results we have decided to take an educational action in order to spread this important message to the younger generation.

We have delivered a lecture on organic waste to 7th grade students in our school. The lecture included relevant information about this type of waste, what it is made of, its effect and how to recycle it. The students seemed fascinated and the lecture material seemed to be well received. We took care to deliver the massage in a fun way using quizzes and short films to clarify our meaning.

We feel that we have successfully prompt thinking that might lead to change, even if a small one. There is no doubt that encouraging awareness in a young age is extremely important in creating a better chance to educate a citizen who is aware to its environment and is willing to keep and nourish it.

In order to increase our actions effect, we have spread our activity presentation in various WhatsApp groups so that more people will be exposed to the ideas that we wanted to deliver and take part in making a difference. Additionally, we are initiating an active school recess focusing on this subject, with various games and prizes so that children who participate in it will receive our massage in a hands on empowering way. We are also working towards building a composter on our school grounds in order to complete the educational process.

Eventually the earth’s future is in our hands, if we will not learn to decrease our foot print, the fate of the planet is in danger, today more than ever. So let’s be early and not late, lets recycle and separate.