Urban 'Trashing' of the Environment

Filled garbage disposal bins in the heart of Princes Towns urban center.

            Disposal bins filled to the brim, a sight seen daily as you walk along Princes Town Proper. We as citizens see this as a norm and really do not take time to appreciate the severity of this occurrence. So think now, where does all this waste go? Doesn't it add up? What exactly are we doing to the environment when we dispose so much?

            Princes Town Proper is an urban commercial hotspot in south Trinidad. Day to day its streets are packed with people on their way to work, shopping and commuting. The effect is significant amounts of municipal solid waste being generated, as recognized in the depiction. This waste is borne out of our consumption patterns in the town center, and has became a serious problem to our natural environment as this trend is evident in all of Trinidad's urban hubs.

            Currently Trinidad handles the volumes of waste produced in its urban centers is by dumping into landfill sites. The Beetham Landfill is the country's largest site accommodating 65 percent of the waste produced. However, this landfill will reach its capacity in a few years, since an average of 1000 tonnes of waste being generated per day which is faster than the rate of decomposition (Swmcol.co.tt 2014). By that time a new site will be needed and this means another part of the natural environment would need to be cleared in order to store urban waste.

For more information on waste management in Trinidad visit: 

http://www.swmcol.co.tt/education/112-waste-mgmt-topics.html

            Incidentally these landfills although meant to minimize the impact of waste into a confined zone, still has environmental impacts which are widespread. While solid waste is being broken down in these sites it goes through several biophysical processes to produce both leachate and emissions. Leachate is liquid in nature and thus infiltrates the soil. If improper drainage control is applied this can contaminate ground water which eventually drains and pollutes our river systems. Emissions in the form of methane and carbon dioxide is also produced, of which both are greenhouse gases that lead to global warming (Aljaradin and Persson 2012). In addition methane is flammable and can cause fires if the landfill is not properly managed. This was witness in the Beetham Landfill where a breakout of fires lead to excessive airborne particulate matter affecting the surrounding environs of the landfill (Boodram 2014).

For more information on the effects of landfills on the environment see: http://benthamscience.com/open/towmj/articles/V005/28TOWMJ.pdf

To read more on the Beetham Landfill fire see:         

http://www.trinidadexpress.com/news/Landfill-closed-242676951.html

            Aside from managed municipal solid waste there is also those that are mismanaged which, also affect the environment. As seen in the picture not all of the solid waste is in the disposal bins. Improper disposal like this can lead to adverse effects such as flooding, habitat degradation and promotion of disease ridden organisms, such as rats, in our cities.

            On a whole Trinidad's urban centers like those around the world produce alarming amounts of municipal solid waste daily. This waste whether managed in landfills or improperly disposed of, is causing harm to our environment.

References

            Aljaradin, Mohammad and Kenneth M Persson. 2012. "Environmental Impact of Municipal Solid Waste Landfills in Semi-Arid Climates-Case Study--Jordan." The Open Waste Management Journal 5, no. 1: 28-39.

            Boodram, Kim. 2014."Landfill closed Fire burning since last Sunday...." Trinidad Express, January 30. Accessed 22 February 2014. http://www.trinidadexpress.com/news/Landfill-closed-242676951.html.

            Swmcol.co.tt. 2014."The Trinidad and Tobago Solid Waste Management Company (SWMCOL) - Waste Management Topics." http://www.swmcol.co.tt/education/112-waste-mgmt-topics.html (accessed 22 Feb 2014).

Urbanization's Vehicles of Degradation

Vehicular congestion found in the city of San Fernando.

            At first sight of this image of San Fernando, one thing comes to mind, TRAFFIC!! Then you remember the stresses of the agonizingly long waits, the constant checking of time, the noise of the other car's horn honking and the despair at the realization that you're going to be late. However, vehicular congestion in these urban areas poses another quite significant problem which we may not readily think about. Influxes in vehicle use can and is causing harm to our environment.

            This scene has become a regular occurrence in Trinidad's urban centers and their surrounding environs. Commuting to destinations in urban hubs is a daily practice carried out by most Trinidadians. Located in these areas are our schools, jobs, services and markets; thus the need for transport is necessitated. In addition Trinidad's gasoline and diesel prices are subsidized, since it is a producer of oil and gas. Thereby creating a coupling effect between these two factors which has encouraged the ownership of vehicles in the country.

            As a consequence pollution due to vehicular emissions is quite apparent in Trinidad. On a daily, as seen in the image, lines of virtually stagnant traffic can be observed in the country's urban areas. This has caused increasing amounts of greenhouse gases and toxic pollutants to become airborne in Trinidad's cities. These greenhouse gases include carbon dioxide that traps solar radiation which in turn aids global warming and climate change. Apart from this the emissions contain solid particulates along with volatile organic compounds and nitrous oxide which form ozone in sunlight, all of which affects human health mainly breathing. Furthermore toxic gases such as lead is released into the environment (Harrington and Mcconnell 2003).

For more information on these negative effects of vehicular emissions visit:

http://www.rff.org/rff/Documents/RFF-RPT-carsenviron.pdf

            What is more interesting is solutions to the problem of traffic is also hurting the environment. As stated in the article 'Mobile Chimneys' (2013), the government of Trinidad and Tobago is implementing several measures to curb the emissions. One of these is to create new roadway to lessen "congestion and travel time of vehicles." Although this new infrastructure may lower emissions by cutting the operating times of vehicles it may however, degrade our natural landscape as new territories would need to be cleared in order to build these roadways.

To read the article mentioned above visit:

http://www.newsday.co.tt/businessday/0,176462.html

            In summation urban centers of Trinidad has created the need for transportation. This need along with low fuel cost have increased the vehicular congestion in the country's cities. This in turn has had detrimental effects on the environment both atmospheric and terrestrial.

References

            Harrington, Winston and Virginia Mcconnell. 2003."Motor Vehicles and the Environment." Washington, D.C.: Resources for the Future.

            Unknown. 2013."Mobile Chimneys." Newsday,18th April.  Accessed 15 Feb 2014. http://www.newsday.co.tt/businessday/0,176462.html.

A Glance into the Urban-environmental Problem

            From its inception urban centers have played major roles in human life. They have provided means whereby regions could develop along with creating a central point where aspects of human life has gathered, including; employment, education, commerce, travel, recreation and housing (Tacoli 2004). However with all the advantages of urbanization came detrimental consequences which have been major topics of discussion. Of these negatives one of the most profound is the harmful effects urban areas have had on our environment.

A glance of urban Trinidad: Princes Town Proper and its aspects which affect the environment.

            Illustrated here is an all too common trend in the urban areas of Trinidad. On the busiest street of Princes Town we see the harsh truth of what is happening to our environment due to the urban process. Some of these problems are quite apparent while others require a deeper understanding.

            Most recognizably is the solid waste which has been discarded improperly into the drains and sidewalk of the town area, displaying the disregard of the population to the environment. Even more disturbing is the proximity of a garbage disposal bin to the litter. These practices only lead to negative effects such as flooding, habitats for disease ridden animals, contaminated water runoff (Uttara et al. 2012) and reducing the aesthetics of the town.

            Moreover, on a daily Princes Town acts as a commercial hotspot for crowds of people shopping, working and commuting. Therefore there is no surprise to see the numerous cars and people that line the roads and pavements. The problem associated with this is, as these urban areas draw influxes of people to their centers, it strains the environment since a significant supply of resources is needed to sustain the growing population. Furthermore the increase in vehicle use adds to greenhouse gas emissions and the deposition of harmful substances on the surrounding surfaces (Uttara et al. 2012).

            In addition there are aspects here which may not be quite apparent but need to be noted when looking at how the area has affected the environment. Firstly for this area to be developed into what it is, clearing of the natural habitats that once presided here was necessary. Also the surfaces which now exist such as the concrete and asphalt, trap solar radiation, thus adding to global warming and creating urban heat islands (see video below) (Uttara et al. 2012).

            Consequently from this one image we can see the effects of multiple aspects of Princes Town's urban space on the environment. These consequences however are not limited to just here but is global in nature. The continuation of this blog will go more in depth into these issues while depicting examples across Trinidad's urban centers.

For more information on the negative effects faced by the environment mentioned here visit: http://www.euroasiapub.org/IJREAS/Feb2012/168.pdf

References

           Tacoli, Cecilia. 2004."The Role of Small and Intermediate Urban Centres and Market Towns and the Value of Regional Approaches to Rural Poverty Reduction Policy." Accessed 8th February 2014. http://www.oecd.org/dac/povertyreduction/36562990.pdf.

           Uttara, S., Nishi Bhuvandas and Vanita Aggarwal. 2012."Impacts Of Urbanization On Environment."International Journal of Research in Engineering & Applied Sciences 2, no. 2 Accessed 7th February 2014. http://www.euroasiapub.org/IJREAS/Feb2012/168.pdf.