Same stuff, different names…
We throw away stuff We eat food wrapped up in disposable stuff We do not regularly use reusable containers We buy cheaply made items that break quickly We are slaves to the “latest fashions” Planned obsolescence Perceived obsolescence
Food wrappers and containers (plastic, cardboard, glass, aluminum, and worst of all: styrofoam) Bags and containers (plastic, paper and cardboard) Packing material (styrofoam, plastic bubble wrap, combo materials, etc) Old clothes Electronics Old cars
Hint: Old dinosaurs
Petroleum Oil Black gold Texas Tea
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700 to 1000 years !!!! In other words, if DaVinci or Galileo had a plastic bottle to throw away in the 1500’s, and did so……That bottle would still be sitting there intact today.
28 % Organic material (food and yard waste) 26 % Paper products (inc. wood) 14 % Plastic related objects 12 % Various metal products 12 % Miscellaneous and combo products 8 % Glass
Pounds per person (USA)
Regional Differences: There are 726 landfill facilities in the south and 134 in the Northeast Curbside recycling is in only 30 % of the communities in the south and % in the West and Northeast Is there a relationship there ?
Bacteria in landfills breaks down organic material in landfills and creates Methane gas. Venting is done to release this to alleviate fire potential. There have been 30 toxic explosions in the USA
Half of the country has less than 10 years left in landfill capacity.
Particulate matter CO 2 Sulphur oxides
Unfortunately, only 2.5 % of food waste is composted annually. Americans toss out 1400 calories of food waste per day ! 40 % of our food Supply……
42 % of greenhouse gases could be avoided by composting and recycling completely
1. Doubling the current national recycling rate would create 1,000,000 new jobs !
Growing in popularity across America… This means everything you buy will be recycled, consumed, composted or reused.
All Consumed Recycled Composted (inc. biodegradable items) Or Reused PERIOD……Everything !!!!! The only things you should throw away at school are a core or peel of fruit, kleenex, or the biodegradable stuff from the café.
Making a ton (2000 lbs) of recycled paper saves 17 trees and uses 50 % less water than creating paper from virgin pulp.
Well, we can save 207 million BTU’s by recycling just one ton of aluminum cans. That is the equivalent of 36 barrels of oil, 1685 gallons of gasoline. A BTU (British Thermal Unit) is approximately the amount of heat needed to boil a pound of water. Fun fact : Aluminum can be recycled over and over and over and over and over….. It takes the same amount of energy to recycle 20 aluminum cans as it does to make one new one !
1,000,000 tons of plastic bottles produced in 2006 required the energy equivalent of 50 million barrels of oil. 76 % of those bottles ended up in landfills or the ocean ! It takes thousands of years for one to decompose in a landfill and a year to break up into little harmful pieces in the ocean while floating… It takes 1500 times the energy to produce a plastic bottle of water than getting it from the tap !
Only 10 % of cell phones retired annually are recycled.
1 million cell phones contain: 35,000 lbs of copper 772 lbs of silver 75 lbs of gold 33 lbs of palladium
If we recycled ALL the cell phones retired each year, we would save enough energy to power 18,000 homes for a YEAR !
82 % of the 2.25 million tons of electronics (TV’s, computers, washers, dryers, fridges, etc) retired annually get tossed into the landfills instead of being recycled!
Of the 40 million computers retired in 2007 (double the number from 10 years previously), 66 % of them still work ! That is planned obsolescence !!!
Definition: What can be broken down by biological processes is biodegradable. What is BD ? = Animal and plant based products What is not BD ? = Plastic, metal, styrofoam, or any molecular chain derivative not found in nature.
1. Average American office worker throws away 500 cups (coffee/tea) per year
2. Americans throw away enough plastic utensils annually to circle the equator ten times…
3. In Ireland, people throw away 27 plastic bags a year. England residents toss 220 of those babies into the landfill…
4. We throw away enough Christmas cards each years to fill the Rose Bowl !
5. 38,000 miles of ribbon is tossed each year. Enough to tie a bow around the earth !
6. Between Thanksgiving and New Years, an EXTRA MILLION tons of waste are generated in America. ***That’s 2,000,000,000 pounds folks. In 6 weeks !
million tires are discarded annually, and 130 million of those are burned as fuel. Any chance that is good for the air quality ???
8. Less than 1 % of the plastic bags are recycled each year. Why ? Not enough profit. Recycling one ton of them costs $ 4,000. The recycled product can be sold for $32….
9. Airlines and Airports put out a tremendous amount of waste. Unfortunately, they only recycle 20 % of their recyclable goods.
10. The average American uses the equivalent of one 100 foot Douglas Fir tree each year for their paper and wood related products ! USE Recycled paper products !!!