What are landfills?

A landfill is like a giant toy box where we put all our trash when we don’t need it anymore.

Imagine you have a big bin in your room for your toys. When you're done playing, you throw the toys you don't want to use right now into the bin. A landfill works kind of like that big bin, but much bigger, so big it can hold trash from an entire town!

A landfill has layers of trash, just like how you stack your toys in the bin. You throw in paper, plastic, food scraps, and even old clothes. Over time, all that trash gets squished together by heavy trucks or machines, making it smaller and more compact.

Sometimes, people cover the trash with dirt or special materials so it doesn’t smell too much and doesn't bother nearby animals, kind of like how you might cover your messy room with a blanket before going to bed!

Eventually, when that big toy box is full, they’ll build something new on top of it. That’s why landfills can look like giant hills covered in grass or dirt.