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There's a 35 year old man named Ari Derfel in Berkley, CA. who just (Dec. '07) wrapped up an experiment in "seeing" how much trash one person actually generates by saving every little piece of garbage (outside of composted food trash) for an entire year in his house. Turns out, it was about 96 cubic feet for him. Here's a complete San Francisco article about him and his experiment.
According to the EPA, American's generate about 245 million tons per year. This has a breakdown of about (numbers rounded):
2005 EPA numbers indicate the following Municipal Solid Waste Management system in place (in million tons):
One of the biggest reasons why more individuals don't recycle is because there is a disconnect between us and our trash. We automatically and naturally assume that our waste has no value except to be in a landfill - this is from lack of knowledge of existing systems that are in place. What we also assume that the costs associated with waste removal are an inherent part of our lives - something which we cannot control. We create waste and "they" remove it. But we can control it and with some knowledge behind you, it can actually be used as a means of economic gain! There is value in our trash, it's just a matter of being able to harvest it. Much energy and resources went into creating it, much energy and resources can be extracted from it. For you, your company, or organization, this means money. You not only save on existing waste removal, but can also generate income from proper re-distribution for re-use. Our trash is someone else's core-material overhead.
The Lifespan of Commonly Discarded Litter
(from Pennsylvania Department of Transportation)
|
Item
|
Decomposition Time
|
| Glass Bottle | Approximately 1 Million Years |
| Plastic 6-Pack Collar | 450 Years |
| Aluminum Can | 200 – 500 Years |
| Plastic Jug | 70 Years |
| Rubber Boot Sole | 50 – 80 Years |
| Steel Cans | 50 Years |
| Leather | Up To 50 Years |
| Nylon Fabric | 30 – 40 Years |
| Plastic Film Canister | 20 – 30 Years |
| Painted Wooden Stake | 13 Years |
| Degradable Plastic Bag | 10 – 20 Years |
| Disposable Diapers | 10 – 20 Years |
| Wool Clothing | 1 – 5 Years |
| Cigarette Butt | 1 – 5 Years |
| Cotton Rag | 1 – 5 Months |
| Orange Peel/Banana Peel | 2 – 5 Weeks |
| Piece Of Paper | 2 – 4 Weeks |
| Traffic Tickets | 2 – 4 Weeks |
| Rolled Newspaper | 2 – 6 Weeks |
| Candy Wrapper | 1 – 3 Months |
| Rope | 3 – 14 Months |
For more information, refer to the following and like always, email us with more solutions for other people to benefit from:
National Solid Wastes Management Association
Styrofoam information and at Grinning Planet
Paper Retreiver - they pay you for your paper waste!
Recycling Centers - Find a recycling center in your area
Paper Recycling information
Plastic Recycling information
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