AKA Trash and What We Can Do With It Waste Management

4.6 pounds The amount of waste each American gets rid of per day 55% ends up in landfills

The Good Landfills take waste off of our streets and away from our houses

The Bad Landfills are not the most efficient way to solve our waste problem

The Ugly Living near landfills can cause serious damage to one’s health Low birth weights Increase of cancer Mercury poisoning Neurological disorders Environmental Damages Degrades the quality of nearby water and soil Poisons fish Waste breakdown forms methane

What do we Throw Away?

What Can We Do?

Reduce To use less resources to begin with Examples: Buy products made from post-consumer recycled materials, especially paper and bathroom tissue. Choose electronics and appliances that are energy-efficient. Ditto for cars. Buy stuff made close to home. Less energy was used transporting them to the store. Buy used. Avoid goods made with materials whose extraction or processing are especially destructive, such as tropical woods and most gold jewelry. Avoid overly packaged goods. The packaging is a total throw-away. Avoid things made with toxic materials, such as most household cleansers. Cut back on water use at home. Waste less energy on lights and equipment. Eat less meat.

Reuse What can this old thing also do? Examples: Trading clothes, DVDs, reselling your phone Donating your old things Finding new uses for old stuff Composting

Recycle Paper Plastic Glass Remember to check with the rules of where you are recycling. One bad thing can send the whole bag to a landfill!