Is taking out the trash one of your chores at home? Sometimes the bags are light, other times they’re so heavy you have to drag them to the dumpster.

Based on how much trash is produced by your family, what is your hypothesis on how much garbage Americans generate?

How much garbage does a typical American family of four generate in one week? A. About 20 pound B. 50 pounds C pounds D. 250 pounds

How much garbage is that for each person for one day? A. 1 pound B. 3-4 pounds C. Over 10 pounds D. 22 pounds

Americans generate about 190 to 200 million tons of garbage a year. That is enough trash to fill a bumper-to-bumper convoy of garbage trucks halfway to the moon.

What happens to this garbage? Sure, it goes in the garbage truck and we never see it again. But it does go somewhere. Usually, it goes to a landfill. Then what happens to it?

Every day, leaves die and fall off of plants. In the Fall, many trees lose their leaves. Grass is mowed in yards. What happens to all of this dead plant material?

Why aren’t we up to our necks in garbage, dead plant material and dead animals?

When living things die, what happens to the energy trapped in the bodies of the organisms?

When we throw things away, what happens to the energy trapped in the matter of those objects when they end up in the landfill?