10 Shocking Facts About Your Garbage
May 16, 2015
Story at-a-glance
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The average American throws away more than 7 pounds of
garbage a day
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Americans toss 60 million water bottles daily, which is
nearly 700 each minute
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Most communities spend more to deal with trash than they
spend for schoolbooks, fire protection, libraries, and parks
By Dr. Mercola
It's easy not to think about garbage. You throw away your empty
cartons, bags, and cups, and once a week the trash collector comes
and takes it all away. Out of sight, out of mind… except that it's
not really gone.
Most US garbage is simply relocated from your garbage can to a
landfill or incinerator, both of which are fraught with problems:
- Incinerators: Emit toxic dioxins, mercury,
cadmium, and other particulate matter into the air, and convert
waste into toxic ash (which is sometimes used to cover
landfills).
- Landfills: There are more than 3,000 active
landfills, and 10,000-old landfills, in the US.1
While the number of landfills in the US has been decreasing in
recent decades, they have, individually, been increasing in
size.
Along with being a major source of methane emissions, landfills
produce "leachate," a toxic fluid composed of pollutants like
benzene, pesticides, heavy metals, endocrine-disrupting chemicals,
and more, which come from the compressed trash.
Although landfills are technically supposed to keep garbage dry
and are lined to prevent leachate from contaminating nearby soil and
groundwater, the landfill liners are virtually guaranteed to
degrade, tear, or crack eventually, allowing the toxins to escape
directly into the environment.
10 Shocking Facts About Your Garbage
MSN compiled 10 facts about garbage that are likely to surprise
you.2
You may never look at your trash the same way again…
- More Than 100 Tons of Waste for Every American:
The average American throws away more than 7 pounds of garbage a
day. That's 102 tons in a lifetime, more than any other
populations on Earth.
- Bottled Water Is the "Grandfather of Wasteful
Industries." Edward Humes, author of
the book "Garbology: Our Dirty Love Affair with Trash,"
counts bottled water among the most wasteful of industries. In
the US, Americans toss 60 million water bottles daily, which is
nearly 700 each minute.
- Food Waste Is a Problem Too: Americans
throw away 28 billion pounds of food a year, which is about 25
percent of the US food supply.
- Disposables Are a Drain: Ten percent of the
world's oil supply is used to make and ship disposable plastics
– items like plastic utensils, plates, and cups that are used
just one time and thrown away.
- Trash Is Expensive: Most communities spend
more to deal with trash than they spend for schoolbooks, fire
protection, libraries, and parks.
- Carpet Waste Alone Is Astounding: Americans
throw away 5.7 million tons of carpet every year.
- Paper Waste Is a Shame: Americans waste 4.5
million tons of office paper a year. Ask yourself… do I really
need to print that?
- Opting Out of Junk Mail Makes a Difference:
According to Humes, the energy used to create and distribute
junk mail in the US for one day could heat 250,000 homes. You
can opt-out of junk mail by going to CatalogChoice.org.
- Too Many Toys: Only 4 percent of the
world's children live in the US, but Americans buy (and throw
away) 40 percent of the world's toys. Buy less toys, opt for
second-hand versions, and pass down the toys you do purchase to
others.
- Plastic Bags: On average, Americans use 500
plastic bags per capita each year. Such bags make up the second
most common type of garbage found on beaches. Stash reusable
shopping bags in your purse or car so you're not tempted by
plastic or paper.
Bottled Water: One of the Worst Offenders
US landfills contain about 2 million tons of discarded water
bottles, each of which will take more than 1,000 years to
biodegrade. Recycling is only possible for a small number of these
bottles, because only PET bottles are recyclable. In all, only one
out of five plastic bottles ever make it to a recycling bin.3
You might think re-using the bottle is an option, but commercial
water bottles tend to wear down from repeated use, which can lead to
bacterial growth in surface cracks inside the bottle. This risk
is compounded if you fail to adequately wash the bottle between each
use, using mild soap and warm water.
But even with washing, these microscopic hiding places may still
allow pathogenic bacteria to linger. Perhaps more importantly, the
plastic chemical
bisphenol-A (BPA) and phthalates lurk in plastic water bottles
and can pose serious health hazards, especially to pregnant women
and children.
Fortunately, the use of bottled water is one of the easiest
habits to change. Simply put a filter on your tap and use a reusable
glass water bottle to carry with you.
Why You Should Consider Ditching Plastic Bags
Plastic bags are so wasteful and polluting to the environment
that many US cities have already banned them outright. For a
succinct and entertaining introduction to the waste that is the
plastic bag, I highly recommend the film "Bag It."4
It is a truly eye-opening look to the vastness of the problem,
and the immense waste that could be spared if more Americans toted a
reusable bag with them to the grocery store. As their website
reported:5
"In the United States alone, an estimated 12 million
barrels of oil is used annually to make the plastic bags that
Americans consume. The United States International Trade
Commission reported that 102 billion plastic bags were used in
the US in 2009.
These bags, even when properly disposed of, are easily
windblown and often wind up in waterways or on the landscape,
becoming eyesores and degrading soil and water quality as they
break down into toxic bits."
On a worldwide scale, each year about 500 billion to 1 trillion
plastic bags are used worldwide. At over 1 million bags per minute,
that's a lot of plastic bags, of which billions end up as litter
each year, contaminating oceans and other waterways.
Food Waste Is a Serious Issue
You might not think throwing a banana peel or apple core in your
trash is a big deal, but organic waste is actually the second
highest component of landfills in the US. Organic landfill waste has
increased by 50 percent per capita since 1974, as illustrated in
this infographic.6
One solution to this problem is to cut down on the amount of food
you waste by planning your meals carefully (and shopping according),
vacuum packing produce to help it last longer, eating leftovers and
knowing when
food is still safe to eat (versus when it’s actually spoiled).
Composting Can Help Reduce Organic Waste in Landfills
Another solution lies in creating a backyard compost pile.
Composting food scraps recycles their nutrients and can reduce
their ecological impact. It benefits soil, plants, and the greater
environment, and it's not as difficult as you might think. Compost
can be created with yard trimmings and vegetable food waste, manure
from grazing animals, egg shells, brown paper bags, and more.
This can be done on an individual or community-wide level. For
instance, in California, The Sonoma County Waste Management Agency
operates a regional compost program in which they accept yard
trimmings and vegetative food discards that are placed in curbside
containers by local residents.
The organic material is then converted into premium quality
organic compost and mulches, along with recycled lumber, firewood,
and biofuel used to generate electricity. Since 1993, 1.6 million
tons of yard and wood debris have been converted into these
beneficial products.
Sonoma Compost, which operates the Organic Recycling Program on
behalf of the Sonoma County Waste Management Agency, estimates that
nearly 1.5 million tons of yard and wood trimmings have been
diverted from landfills since 1993 as a result of the program.7
The Consequences of Living in a 'Throwaway' Society
Your parents and grandparents likely used products in reusable,
recyclable, or degradable containers made from glass, metals, and
paper. But today, discarded plastics and other waste are circling
the globe at a significant human and environmental cost. It's a
problem of convenience – choosing a plastic disposable water bottle
instead of using a reusable glass container, for instance – as well
as one of overconsumption.
Even durable items like electronics, toys, and clothes are often
regarded as "throwaway" products that we use for a short period and
quickly replace – often without recycling, donating, or re-using
them for another purpose.
Of course, you are living in a society that makes you feel
behind if you do not buy the latest model of this or that, or
update your wardrobe with the latest fashions. We're also
increasingly living on the go, where food in throwaway packages is
by far the rule rather than the exception.
Contrast that to a couple of generations ago when frugality and
resourcefulness were highly valued, and food came fresh from the
farm, butcher shop, or baker, and you begin to see where the real
problems with excess waste are springing from. The sheer amount of
waste that is generated needlessly on any given day is quite
mind-boggling. For instance, according to the Clean Air Council:8
- The average American office worker uses about 500 disposable
cups every year.
- Every year, Americans throw away enough paper and plastic
cups, forks, and spoons to circle the equator 300 times.
- The estimated 2.6 billion holiday cards sold each year in
the US could fill a football field 10 stories high.
- Between Thanksgiving and New Year's Day, an extra million
tons of waste is generated each week.
- 38,000 miles of ribbon are thrown away each year, enough to
tie a bow around the Earth.
Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle!
You've probably heard of The Three Rs: Reduce, Reuse, and
Recycle. Committing this into practice in your home can
significantly reduce the amount of waste your family generates while
also saving you money. You can do your part by taking the following
action steps that reduce your plastic consumption and generation of
waste, which will benefit your health as well as the environment.
Reduce your plastic use: If at all
possible seek to purchase products that are not made from or
packaged in plastic. Here are a few ideas... Use reusable
shopping bags for groceries. Bring your own mug for coffee
and bring drinking water from home in glass water bottles
instead of buying bottled water. Store foods in the freezer
in glass mason jars as opposed to plastic bags. Take your
own leftovers container to restaurants. Request no plastic
wrap on your newspaper and dry cleaning. Avoid disposable
utensils and buy foods in bulk when you can. These are just
a few ideas — I'm sure you can think of more. |
Recycle/Repurpose what you can: Take
care to recycle and repurpose products whenever possible,
especially ones that are not available in anything other
than plastic. This includes giving your clothes or gently
used household items to charities and frequenting
second-hand stores instead of buying new. Make use of online
sites like Freecycle.org that allow you to give products you
no longer need away to others instead of throwing them away. |
Choose reusable over single-use: This
includes non-disposable razors, washable feminine hygiene
products for women, cloth diapers, glass bottles for your
milk, cloth grocery bags, handkerchiefs instead of paper
tissues, an old t-shirt or rags in lieu of paper towels, and
so on. |
Compost your food scraps and yard waste:
A simple bin in your backyard can greatly cut down on your
landfill contributions while rewarding you with a natural
fertilizer for your soil. |
Support legislation:
Support legislative efforts to manage waste in your
community; take a leadership role with your company, school,
and neighborhood. |
Be innovative: If you have a great
idea, share it! Your capacity to come up with smarter
designs and creative ideas is limitless and many heads are
better than one. Innovations move us toward a more
sustainable world. |
Assist recovery: Return deposits on
bottles and other plastic products, and participate in
"plastic drives" for local schools, where cash is paid by
the pound. |
Copyright 1997- 2015 Dr. Joseph Mercola. All Rights Reserved.
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