Did you know that the average American creates nearly four and a half pounds of trash every day?
We make up less than seven% of the world’s population, yet produce more than one third of the world’s garbage and trash. A wasteful, throwaway society we are.
Nearly half of the trash produced in our country consists of packaging from the products we buy, such as plastic, paper, and styrofoam.
Using fewer disposable items would help to relieve this problem. Every year in this country we throw out more than sixteen billion disposable diapers and nearly four million tons of office paper.
Every day we throw away four million newspapers.
It’s important that we recycle, reduce the amount of products we use, and, if possible, reuse products instead of throwing them away.
Non-degradable trash does not break down easily. Objects made of foam and plastic can take hundreds of years to decompose; whereas, biodegradable trash, such as fruit and vegetable skins, leaves, coffee grounds, and other organic materials can be added to the soil to form a nutrient-rich substance.
Incessant waste can tell us plenty about a culture.