Ever think about what goes into your trash on a daily basis? (We know…gross.) But seriously, really think about it. Last week’s leftovers, a glass that broke and shattered in the sink, a greasy pizza box, those annoying flyers from the mail, an egg carton, packages to a few frozen meals, scraps from making dinner, last month’s magazine, a slew of dirty diapers, used paper towels from cleaning the windows, a t-shirt that was ruined in the wash …
Bottom line, all that stuff has to go somewhere, and it all adds up.
According to a survey conducted by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in 2008, the average amount of waste generated by each person in America per day was 4.5 pounds. 1.1 pounds of that was recycled, and .4 pounds, including yard waste, was sent to composting. In total, only 24.3% of waste was recycled, 8.9% was composted, and 66.8% was sent to a landfill or incinerated.
4.5 pounds of garbage. EVERY DAY. Let’s use a little math here…4.5 lbs a day x 365 days a year, and the average American lives to be 78.4 years old. Sooo, on average we toss 128,115 lbs of garbage away in our lifetime!!! That’s A LOT of garbage, not to mention that doesn’t take into account some of the larger items like mattresses, pillows, cars, couches, electronics, etc. Getting a visual yet?
With all that “stuff” being tossed, one has to ask themselves, “are we going to run out of space at some point?” The simple answer is “not for awhile” but that isn’t the whole answer.
Although it won’t happen for awhile, you have to take into consideration that not all states are the same. A landfill deficit in one state means that their trash will have to travel to another state.
BioCycle conducts a biennial assessment of America's trash capacity called "The State of Garbage in America." Arkansas reported enough capacity to go more than 600 years without opening another facility. (Way to go, Arkansas!) Massachusetts and Rhode Island, on the other hand, have just 12 years of capacity remaining. New York, despite shipping most of the Big Apple's trash across state lines, has only 25 years of capacity left.
Even though 12 years may seem like a ways off, we have to think of our future generations and be proactive in creating less waste and more recycling opportunities. What do you think are simple ways to help lessen waste in landfills? Let’s start with our industry first—mattresses.
Share your thoughts here, or on our new Facebook and LinkedIn pages.
So at the end of the day, what’s your footprint?
Comments