As a group we decided to place our “This is Public Health” sticker on a dumpster overflowing with trash behind Bookholders. It is very possible that a majority of the population would not consider trash to be a public health issue but in our opinion it definitely is. We chose this location because it is very close to USF and a lot of students go to Bookholders to buy their textbooks for their classes. Quite naturally, they could be throwing away a lot trash in the dumpster. Also, individuals can be disposing of products that could infect the members of the Tampa Bay community with various forms of disease. For instance, an irresponsible person can improperly dispose of a used needle infected with HIV and cause an unsuspecting student to contract the disease. Proper disposal of trash is definitely an issue because people can become very ill. Trash contributes to another public health concern as well. After the garbage men pick up the trash from the dumpster it will go in an incinerator that does manage to release some toxic fumes in the air. Once again, the people in the area start to breathe in the bad air and may get sick from it. In other areas trash might be put in landfills until it decomposes and that can potentially affect our water systems because of the soil that has been contaminated. Our society intakes so much water that polluting the smallest part of it can cause a lot of damage. The environment in which we live plays a crucial part in the overall health of the community. In order to prevent these circumstances not only should we handle the trash properly but start enforcing recycling laws. The public should be informed how important and necessary recycling is. It may not be one of the major public health issues at the moment but we should stop it before it becomes inevitable.
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