University of Rhode Island Recycling
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Factoids
   

GARBAGE FACTS:

  • The U.S. throws away around 200 million tons of garbage each day.
  • The Average American generates about 4 pounds of garbage each day. That is approximately 1,460 pounds per person per year
  • Paper takes up as much as 50% of landfill space!
  • If line up bumper to bumper, a string of garbage trucks hauling the nations daily waste could rech halfway to the moon.
 

The Life of Litter-Decomposition Rate of Trash:

Source: The New York Times

      • Paper--- 2.5 Months
      • Orange Peel--- 6 months
      • Milk Carton--- 5 years
      • Cigarette Butt--- 10-12 years
      • Plastic Bag--- 10-20 years
      • Disposable Diaper--- 75 years
      • Tin Can--- 100 years
      • Beer Can--- 200-500 years
      • Styrofoam--- Never(immortal)
 

PAPER FACTS:

  • A fifteen year old tree produces only 700 grocery bags
  • The average person in North America uses 250 Kg(551 lb.) of paper each year. If they recycled it, each person would save about 4.6 average-sized tress.
  • When 1 ton of newsprint is recycled, 3 cubic meters of landfill space is saved and 13-17 trees are spared!
  • A stack of newspaper, collected for recycling and piled one meter high, saves a 10 meter tall evergreen tree.
  • A stack of newspaper, collecte dfor recycling and piled one meter high, saves a 10 meter tall evergreen tree.

 
 

Enviromental Advantages of Recycling:

Source: Garten Services Inc.

For every ton of paper recycled:

      • 17 pulpwodd trees are conserved
      • 500 pounds of air pollutants are not emitted
      • 12,000 gallons of processed water are conserved
      • water pollution is reduced by 40%
      • energy equivalent to 96 gallons of gasoline are conserved
      • solid waste pollution is reduced
      • 5 cubic yards of landfill space is conserved
      • the amount of money to process the landfill space is conserved
 

CANS AND BOTTLES:

 

  • The energy saved from recycling one aluminum can will run your TV for 3 hours.
  • It takes 2 plastic soft drink bottles to make enough polyester fiber for a baseball cap.
  • When you recycle one glass bottle, you save the amount ofenergy needed to loight a 100 watt bulb for 4 hours
  • Americans go through 2.5 million plastic bottles every hour.
  • The plastic from 5 soda bottles can completely insulate a ski jacket.
  • Recycling a glass jar saves enough energy to lighht a 100 watt bulb for 4 hours.

 

 

 
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File last updated: April, 2004

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