The Reducing Aspect

Every greenie out there has heard the recycling catch phrase, "reduce, reuse, recycle!" Recycling has become common place in recent years with curbside recycling, and bins in schools and office buildings. Reusing materials is also fairly commonplace; refilling a water bottle or washing out plastic containers for storage. But what about reducing?

According to wisegeek.com, ever person throws out a little over 4 pounds of waste every day on average. That tallies up to about one TON of garbage every year, per person! Only a tenth of the solid waste produced by Americans is recycled. And a whopping 33% of all waste produced is packaging materials! So next time you go to the store to buy a toy, or some groceries, choose the less heavily packaged item.

Next time you need to get a drink of water, don't buy a new water bottle- either take a sip from a fountain, or refill a reusable item, like a Nalgene bottle. Americans throw away 60 million plastic bottles every day. Thats 2.5 million bottles an hour. Or 700 bottles every second. The amount of aluminum cans thrown away is enough to rebuild the country's commercial air fleet every three months. And every aluminum can thrown away wastes the equivalent energy of a 1/2 can of gasoline. Instead of throwing these items away, recycle them or choose a reusable option!

In the US, 5 million tons of waste are produced over the holidays. Four million of those tons, wrapping paper and shopping bags! Next christmas ask yourself, does this item really need to be wrapped? Wrapped presents may look nice- but it is a tradition that blows through literally, tons of resources!

Americans make 400 billion photocopies annually, and throw out 650 pounds of paper per person. Every year, enough hazardous waste is produced in America to fill the New Orleans Superdome 1,500 times over. Americans trash 20,000 cars daily. 14 billion pounds of trash are dumped into the ocean annually. 43,000 tons of food are thrown out each day in the US alone.

Are you frightened yet?

All of that waste has to go somewhere. And we have to do something about it, now. But, there is a small light in the future. Recycling, Reducing waste, and Reusing materials can slow this sickening progression.

1,500 aluminum cans are recycled every second in the US. That gives a 96% return on the energy required to make the can initially. The average American now recycles over 300 pounds of paper annually. One ton of recycled paper saves 17 trees, 3 cubic yards of landfill space, 7000 gallons of water, 390 gallons of oil, 60 pounds of greenhouse gasses, and enough heat to warm a home for a year and a half. Producing recycled paper creates 74% less pollutants, and requires 75% less energy than the non-recycled variety.

Even though the waste problem in the United States alone is a massive problem, there is a light at the end of this tunnel. Although the amount of waste every person produces daily is sickening, you, on an individual level can help. So reduce your waste, try to cut down the number of trash bags you fill every week, and recycle like crazy. If everyone takes a pledge the way my sister and I have- we can really make a difference.

- Amber

( Facts courtesy of: http://www.cleanair.org/Waste/wasteFacts.html. )