Some Trash Facts From Tommy Trash Tracker

Everyone just loves trivia, so thought it would be fun to share some Trash Trivia with our readers, a few facts about the garbage each of us generates.

1.  According to the EPA, the average American discards 4.34 pounds of garbage every day. Over the course of one year, that means the average American discards 1,583 pounds of garbage...multiply that times 300 million of us.

2.  Did you know that the total volume of solid waste produced in the U.S. each year is equal to the weight of more than 5,600 Nimitz Class air craft carriers, 247,000 space shuttles, or 2.3 million Boeing 747 jumbo jets...that is a lot of trash.

3.  (This fact does not include litter, just COLLECTED TRASH.)  Put all of the solid waste collected in the U.S. in a line of garbage trucks and that line of trucks would cross the country, extending from New York City to Los Angeles, more than 100 times...imagine 100 lines of trash trucks from here to Los Angeles.  That would be a line of trash trucks some 1400 feet wide and 2400 miles long.

4.  The 62.6 billion cans recycled last year alone would make 171 circles around the earth at its equator (Aluminum Association).

5.  If we recycled all of the newspapers printed in the U.S. on a typical Sunday, we would save 550,000 trees—or about 26 million trees per year (California Department of Conservation).

Bottle Bricks...Explore The Possibility!

Plastic soda bottles...sometimes, it seems as if they are everywhere, litter tossed upon our roadsides, in our parks, and almost anywhere else that is a public space. Today, sharing with our readers the possibilities these throw away bottles have when turned into Bottle Bricks...We encourage you to research the possibilities, and perhaps your club or group would like to create a Bottle Brick Project of your own.  

The above video is a school built using discarded plastics as bottle brick.
A house made of recycled bottles that sings when the wind blows.
Trash can be so BEAUTIFUL...another example of Bottle Brick building.

Imagine if...Cleaning Up Litter

Can you imagine every American voluntarily picking up just one piece of litter (discarded trash) each and every day of the year?  Such a pledge kept by the citizens of the United States of America would see almost 110 BILLION pieces of litter removed from our environment in just one year...can you imagine such a pledge, and more importantly would you take such a pledge, become a member of an American Litter Patrol (ALP) whose sole purpose was to eradicate America's litter problem?  Each of us as individuals working as a team can "Keep America Beautiful".

Some facts...just who is it that litters?  The answers might just surprise you.  Read the list, and find out if you are actually a litter bug, and if you are, take the pledge and become a soldier in the war against litter in America, take the pledge and become a member of the American Litter Patrol.

  

Just Who Litters?...maybe you?

• Home Owners/Renters-Household trash at the curbside left uncovered creates litter.  Lid your trash.
• Business Owners-Dumpsters used by businesses create litter.  Pick up around dumpsters, and lid   your  dumpster at all times.
• Employees around Loading docks...have a daily litter pluck in loading dock areas. 
• Construction Workers-Construction and demolition sites create litter.  Put out more garbage cans closer to daily work areas, encourage workers to toss work site debris in the cans.
• Truck Drivers-Uncovered trucks create a lot of roadside litter...cover your trucks to stop litter blow off.
• Motorists-put a litter bag in the car, don't toss fast food packaging out the window! 
• Pedestrians-as we say on the hiking trails, carry in and carry out.  The roadsides are not a garbage can.

Statistics on Who Litters Show:

75% of Americans Admit to Littering within the last 5 years.

Most common litter offenders- Men between 18-34 years

Smokers

People who eat at Fast Food places at least 2x per week

Person who drives more than 50 miles/day

People who go out for entertainment at least 1x per week

Did You Know? 10 Items You Can Recycle

Most of us know we can recycle cans, bottles, paper and other common household items, but here are ten items you might not think about recycling.

1.  Hair...yes, hair.  In fact, did you know hair can be used in environmental cleanups after man caused disasters...think Exxon.

2.  Blue Jeans.  Sure, your good used jeans can go to Goodwill, but did you know there are companies out there that are making green insulation with old tattered blue jeans?  Check out  Green Jeans Insulation

3.  Wine...the bottles can be recycled, so can the corks, and if you happen to have some left over wine dump it on your compost pile!  The wine helps encourages the composting process.

4.  Cotton swabs (with cardboard stems), cotton balls, and even dryer lint can all go right on your compost pile.

5.  CRAYONS...yes, all those old broken crayons can be recycled and turned into new crayons.  Check out National Crayon Recycle Program 

6.  Surfboards!  Who would have thought, but it is true that even surfboards can be recycled.  Check out ReSurf Recycling 

7.   Your keys...and you can donate those keys to a good cause at Keys For Kindness

8.  Rechargeable Batteries-New York state has even passed a take back law requiring manufacturer take-back programs.

9.  Golf Balls...so golfer, next time you see that lost ball out in the woods, or along the water's edge pick it up and recycle it....OnlyGolfBalls.com will even buy used golf balls in bulk.

10. Trophies...yes you can mail in your old trophies and have them recycled and reused.

Reduce Litter, Go Bagless

Just as important as recycling our waste streams, is reducing them, and a very easy way to reduce is too go bag free when heading out to the grocery store, or shopping.  BYOB (Bring Your Own Bag) is a great way to keep plastic bags out of our landfills, out of our environment, and out of our waterways and oceans...stop the site of plastic bags blowing in the wind by bringing your own plastic bags, own the battle cry of "Reduce, Recycle and Reuse. 

Each of us doing our small part can make a difference when all those small parts are added together, and bringing your own bags shopping can contribute to a cleaner environment.  US Retailers each and every year hand out over 380 BILLION plastic shopping bags, and another 10 Billion paper bags.  Those bags too often end up blowing in the wind, ending up in trees, on the sides of our roads, and clogging our water ways.  Saying, "No thank you, I brought my own bags" is a great way to contribute to cleaner world.  Bringing canvas will reduce your own carbon footprint, and save the energy it would take to produce and transport paper and plastic bags to your local vendors.

Canvas Bag Suppliers

• Eco Bags...Get Hip Get Green brings reusable shopping bags to a forefront of both “E”s: environmentalism and education. Each sale will also mean a donation to the children’s environmental group, The Green Ambassadors. The Green Ambassadors provide high school students with experiences that foster personal growth, community service, and leadership skills to tackle the most critical environmental issues facing our planet.
• Green Bags Unlimited...Welcome to Green Bags Unlimited!  Your source for customize, reusable, Eco-friendly bags and totes.  As a supplier and designer, we service distributors around the world.  Our fabrics range from natural to recycled materials.