Did you ever stop to think just how much waste humans make every day?

According to the Environmental Protection Agency, the average American produces about 4.4 pounds (2 kg) of garbage a day, or a total of 29 pounds (13 kg) per week and 1,600 pounds (726 kg) a year. This only takes into consideration the average household member and does not count industrial waste or commercial trash. If this sounds like a staggering number, you would be surprised to know that Americans are not the number one producers of garbage in the world. In Mexico, the average household produces 30 percent more garbage than in America.

While the numbers may be difficult to grasp, consider this: with the garbage produced in America alone, you could form a line of filled-up garbage trucks and reach the moon. Or cover the state of Texas two and a half times. Or bury more than 990,000 football fields under six-foot high (1.8 meter high) piles of waste. According to WM Recycle America, LLC, Americans alone throw away enough aluminum to duplicate the full commercial air fleet of the US.

So how is it that so much garbage is produced? Most of the stuff that fills the landfills is packaging, especially in the form of fast-food containers, but office paper, disposable diapers, Styrofoam inserts, and plain plastic bags also contribute an important percentage to the total waste production of the country. In fact, paper waste makes for about 35 percent of the total material filling up landfills. Considering that most of this paper could be recycled, much of the waste problem is easily avoidable.

Recycling is a big part of the solution to the garbage problem. Newspapers, aluminum containers, and certain plastics can be recycled to reuse in a different form, thus saving space in landfills. Another way to help with the waste problem is to reduce the amount of garbage you produce. This can be done by buying less, buying things in smaller packaging, and simply reusing what you have. You can also buy used, which means you do not produce additional waste because you do not have to discard any more packaging. Donating things you do not longer want also helps. Rather than going to landfills, second-hand clothing, electronic equipment, and even furniture can be passed on to others to extend their usable life.

What do you do to reduce the amount of garbage you put out every day? Everyone’s looking for new solutions, so let us know!

Of course you want to animal-proof your garbage — no one wants to see a mess when they walk out their front door first thing in the morning. But there’s another reason to  keep local wildlife out of your trash — the animal’s own safety.

While rummaging through your garbage an animal can risk any number of injuries:

• An animal can experience a fatal blockage if he swallows packaging material while attempting to eat the residue off of it.
• An animal’s head can get stuck inside certain plastic and glass containers causing suffocation or overheating.  In particular, certain yogurt containers that are narrower at the top and wider at the bottom are especially dangerous for animals.
• Six-pack beverage rings can get stuck around an animal’s nose, mouth and neck, blocking off her means of breathing, eating, drinking and self defense
• Broken glass and sharp edges on cans can cut an animal’s paws and mouth as he attempts to eat food residue off of them.

To help keep animals safe and your garbage secure, try these suggestions:

• Rinse all of your recyclables to remove residue and odors.
• Put lids back on containers tightly. If the lids have been misplaced, crush the containers.
• Use a can opener that opens cans beneath the lip of the lids, leaving only smooth edges on the cans and lids.  Make sure to completely separate lids from cans.
• Cut up all six-pack beverage holders and other similar packaging so that there are no closed rings.
• Recycle all plastic bags at your local grocery store. Don’t put plastic bags in the trash.
• Cut fishing line up into small pieces or tie it into a secure bundle so that it cannot be unwound.
• Switch to brands that have less packaging and buy food in bulk to avoid creating excess trash.
• Spread the word!  Teach your kids, friends, and family to do the same!

Finally, use critter-proof trash containers. Visit our home page to find one that’s right for you!

Was one of your New Year’s resolutions to do more recycling? We hope so! If you need a little motivation, here are some facts about waste in America.

Metal Cans

• Americans throw away enough aluminum in three months to rebuild all of our commercial airplanes.
• The energy saved by recycling one aluminum can could run a television for three hours.
• The energy saved by recycling 19 billion steel cans each year is the same as Los Angeles’ energy requirements for eight years.
• Currently, the only source for new tin in the U.S. is from recycling used tin cans.
• Recycled tin is so pure that it is used to make stannous fluoride, the “cavity fighter” in toothpaste.

Paper

• Every year, Americans throw away enough office and writing paper to build a wall more than 12 feet high, stretching from Los Angeles to New York City.
• Americans use more than 52 million tons of paper each year.
• Recycling one ton of paper saves one acre of trees.
• Approximately 76 percent of all U.S. papermakers use some recovered paper to make everything from paper-based packaging to tissue products, from office paper to newspaper.
• By weight, more paper is recovered for recycling from municipal solid waste streams than glass, plastic, steel and aluminum combined.

Glass Bottles and Jars

• If all the glass bottles and jars collected through recycling in the U.S. in one year were laid end-to-end, they would reach the Moon and half way back to the Earth.
• The volume of glass recycled by Americans in one year would fill New Jersey’s Giants Stadium more than three times.
• Glass can be recycled an infinite number of times.
• The energy saved from recycling one glass bottle will light a 100-watt bulb for four hours.

Plastics

• Used plastic soda and juice bottles are used to make carpets, insulating materials in clothes and sleeping bags, strapping, scouring pads, auto parts, paint brushes, bottles, and other things such as tennis balls.
• We can recycle plastic milk, water and detergent bottles to make new detergent and engine oil bottles, trash cans, flower pots, recycling bins, drainage pipes, park benches, playground equipment, traffic barrier cones, kitchen drain boards, and combs.
• The number of plastics recycling businesses has nearly tripled over the past several years, with more than 1,700 businesses handling and reclaiming post-consumer plastics.
• By using plastic in packaging, American manufacturers save enough energy each year to power a city of 1 million homes for three and a half years.
• The post-consumer plastics recycling
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  industry provides jobs for more than 52,000 American workers.

Clothing/Textiles

• In one year an estimated seven million tons of clothing and other textiles are thrown away. Only 12 percent are reused or recycled.
• Textile recycling provides raw materials for upholstery, for filling mattresses, for wadding and other absorbent products, and for the manufacture of felt as well as fibre from which new cloth can be made.

Sources: Aluminum Recycling, American Forest and Paper Association Recycling, Environmental News Network (ENN.com), EPA, plasticsresource.com, Bureau of International Recycling.

While Christmas is the time of giving, your trash can shouldn’t be on the receiving end. When you think about it, there are quite a few ways to reduce Christmas waste.

Christmas tree

Instead of buying a real Christmas tree, invest in a quality artificial one. Today’s artificial Christmas trees are very lifelike and can be used year after year. While a quality tree might be more expensive than a real tree, consider it an investment and in the process you’ll do Mother Nature a favor.

If you have to have a real tree, you can cut the tree into pieces after Christmas and burn it if you have a fireplace. Not only will you reduce Christmas waste, your house will benefit from a pine tree scent.

Wrapping paper

Every year, tons wrapping paper is being used to wrap presents. Yet what you give your family and friends might just as well fit into a gift bag. After Christmas, a gift bag can serve a multitude of purposes and thus stay out of the trash can. If you have to use wrapping paper, try to save the paper to be used again.

Giving gifts

Take a moment and consider how you can reduce waste when giving gifts.

• If you have people on your Christmas list that you want to surprise with a book, consider giving them an electronic version. E-books don’t require wrapping and can be read on a portable reader or on a computer.

• Homemade gifts are always appreciated. Whether you knit someone a sweater, bake a tin of cookies, or cook a specialty jam, you’re guaranteed to be rewarded with a smile.

• Have you heard that one person’s trash might be another person’s treasure? You might have something that is no longer of use to you or has fallen out of grace, but that doesn’t mean someone else might not be thrilled to have it.

• If you’re not sure what to give or you’re worried about expensive postage, consider giving someone a gift card. Gift cards come in neat little pouches, don’t need wrapping and can be send in the mail in a regular envelop.

Christmas cards

Every year millions of dollars are spend on buying and sending Christmas cards. You can reduce Christmas waste and treat your and other’s trash can right by not sending paper cards this year but opting for electronic cards.

Keep the cards you receive out of your trash can by donating them to a school or charitable organization or make creative use of them by way of a collage.

Christmas food

When you’re expecting guests for Christmas dinner, it’s easy to go overboard on your grocery shopping.

• Limit your expenses by creating a menu or a food list before heading out. Not only will you save money, you’ll have less waste.

• If you have leftovers from dinner, place them in containers and store them in the fridge or freezer.

• The carcass of a chicken or turkey can be boiled to make soup, leftover veggies can be added.

• Leftover potatoes can be fried, while extra meat goes great with sandwiches.

• If you don’t want to deal with leftovers, consider packaging the food and giving it to a homeless person rather than throwing it in the trash.

Be responsible and do your part. Treat your trash can right and reduce Christmas waste.