A major problem of today is landfills, filled to the brim with trash, including plastics, batteries, hazardous materials, glass bottles and jars, and other types of waste. The problem with these landfills is that, while they are decomposing waste, they are also releasing methane gas. Methane gas is the most dangerous greenhouse gas, almost 84 times as effective at absorbing the sun’s heat than Carbon Dioxide. Another problem with landfills is that finding space for the landfills requires the destruction of natural habitats that house wildlife. An average landfill is about 600 acres. In The USA, housing over 3000 landfills means that they take over as many as 1,800,000 acres. Nature is also affected by the regulations in place with clay or plastic lining, which have been known to lead and produce leachate. Leachate then contaminates water sources, further damaging the ecosystems. Landfills also have social problems for those who live near them. Families who lived within a mile of hazardous landfills had an increased risk of 12% in child malformation. Property value also decreased an average of 12.9% with larger landfills, and with smaller landfills, it was about a 2.5% reduction. While landfills may seem like a necessity to get rid of trash, there are other ways. By recycling, the amount of waste that gets into landfills is decreased due to the reuse of the items. Recycling is extremely easy to do, and shouldn’t take any time out of your day. Continuously recycling can lead to decreased amounts of trash, plastics, and glass in landfills. Avoiding single use plastics such as utensils or cups can lead to a decrease in plastics heading to landfills. These can be avoided by bringing you own utensils that can be washed, or getting your morning coffee in your personal container instead of the plastic containing. Composting in landfills is extremely difficult due to the lack of oxygen to the compostable items. Putting biodegradable items into compost bins instead of the trash can decrease large amounts of trash headed to landfills.