Waste & What You Can Do About It

trash-bottlesWhen calculated by the amount of garbage generated in a wasteshed, Americans throw away an average of 7.1 pounds of garbage each day, which equals an incredible 102 tons in a lifetime (Edward Humes, Garbology).

This waste isn’t sustainable; there’s only so much we can dig up and then toss out before it’s all gone. So what can you do to help? When you become more informed about how to avoid waste, you can empower yourself to make changes in your personal life. These changes can be carried over to your workplace, school or community. Your actions do make a difference. Learn more in our Less is More Class

Waste Facts:

  • Edward Humes, Garbology

    “Our Annual Waste: 19 billion pounds of polystyrene peanuts, 40 billion plastic knives, forks and spoons, 28 billions pounds of food, enough steel to level and restore Manhattan and enough plastic film to shrink-wrap Texas.”

  • The Story of Stuff

    “The US has 5% of the world’s population and uses 30% of the world’s resources.”

  • Wall Street Journal

    "American communities on average spend more money on waste management than on fire protection, parks and recreation, libraries or school books..."

  • The Story of Stuff

    “For every can of garbage put out at the curb, the equivalent of 70 cans of waste is produced to create the trash you put at the curb.”

  • David Wann, Simple Prosperity

    “Since 1900, US population has tripled, but use of materials has increased 17-fold.”