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The weak economy may have one upside: Less trash going into a landfill. Sedgwick County in Kansas says that people are throwing away 11% less trash. That’s compared to 3 years ago, just about the time when the economy tanked.
People are not recycling more, they are buying less to begin with. That means less trash to throw away in packaging. Back then people threw away about 5.4 pounds of trash per person a day and now that is down to 4.76 pounds of trash. That’s still pretty high!
What do people throw away most? Businesses throw away cardboard; residents throw away grass clippings (which are easy to recycle – hopefully your city has a green recycling plan for yard waste).
Anatomy of trash
Here’s what people throw away most
- paper 29.2 percent,
- yard waste 17.1 percent,
- plastic 14.3 percent,
- food waste 9.8 percent,
- construction and demolition materials 8 percent,
- textiles/rubber/leather, 6 percent;
- metal 3.4 percent,
- glass 2.7 percent,
- other, 9.5 percent
What struck me about this list is how much is unnecessary. Not only can we easily compost, recycle and reduce but we can do much more recycling. Rubber mulch and other products made from recycled material keeps trash out of the landfill. Not only that, but when you buy recycled products, it’s investing in our future.
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Tags: Environment, Landfill, Mulch, Waste, Waste Management
