Pregnancy
Environmental Buzz Word: Landfill
A landfill is a facility that is designed to safely and permanently dispose of solid waste. Before landfills, people used to dispose of trash in open dumps which were health hazardous and sources of air and water pollution. In a modern landfill, waste is spread out in thin layers, compacted, and covered with a fresh layer of soil every day.
Landfills are required to have a special layer of clay or plastic, called liners, that prevent pollution from seeping out into the surrounding soil or groundwater. A sanitary (or municipal) landfill is built for regular household waste, while a hazardous waste landfill is designed with extra safeguards to handle more dangerous industrial wastes. From Our World, the National PTA's environmental newsletter.
