Chapter 1 HOUSEHOLD WASTE Household waste includes all the trash created by the all the trash created by the things we throw away And we things we throw away And we throw away many things In the throw away many things In the United States the average person United States the average person throws away about 4 5 pounds throws away about 4 5 pounds 2 kilograms of stuff every day 2 kilograms of stuff every day Only 1 5 pounds 0 7 kg of that Only 1 5 pounds 0 7 kg of that gets recycled or composted The remaining 3 pounds 1 4 kg The remaining 3 pounds 1 4 kg is household waste An average American throws away more than 1,000 pounds 450 kg of household waste each year How much household waste does the entire country create 4 44
What happens when you add up all the household waste Americans create It comes out to about 164 million tons 149 metric tons each year But this is only an estimate from the US government No one knows the exact amount of household waste Americans create In fact some experts believe it might be up to seven times that amount In any case a huge number of unwanted items end up in the garbage And all of this garbage has serious effects on our environment AMERICAN WASTE INCLUDING RECYCLABLES yard waste 13 5 food waste 14 5 other 3 4 wood 6 3 rubber leather and fabrics 8 7 plastics 12 7 metals 8 9 4 6 glass paper products 27 4 5
Types of Household Waste There are four basic categories of household waste The first category is paper plastic metal and glass The second category is food waste and yard waste Cleaning products make up the third category The fourth category is e-waste or electronic waste This includes items such as old cell phones and TVs Plastic bottles decompose slowly in landfills They should be recycled 6
A WORKER MOVES SHREDDED PAPER AT A RECYCLING CENTER NEXT WATER WILL BE ADDED TO THE PAPER AND IT WILL BE TURNED INTO PULP Each of these types of waste has different effects on our planet The good news is that we can fight the effects of every type of household waste When we recycle and reuse waste we keep these materials out of landfills This helps clean the land air and water It also improves our health Let’s explore each type of waste and find out what we can do to reduce its effects 7
