Landfill
Landfill is a place where trash is buried in the ground in layers.
A garbage bag holds layers of trash stacked on top of each other. Each layer gets packed down flat before the next one goes on top. A landfill works the same way. Layers of waste are buried and packed down in the ground, with soil spread on top to seal each one in.
Explaining landfill by grade level
When you throw things away, a truck takes them far from your home. The trash goes to a big pit dug in the ground. Workers push dirt on top each day. Over time, the pit fills up with layers of old trash and dirt.
Projects that explore landfill
A landfill is a place where trash is buried in the ground in layers. These sites fill up fast when waste is not compressed. In this experiment, you crush and chop trash to measure how much space compacting saves. The results show how reducing volume could extend a landfill's useful life.
Landfills are places where trash is buried in the ground in layers, and certain products contribute far more volume than others. Billions of disposable diapers end up in landfills every year, accumulating over the lifetime of a single child. In this experiment, you calculate the total volume of trash that a typical baby's diaper use creates from birth through potty training, revealing the scale of landfill space one everyday product can consume.