Pounds of trash the average American generated in a day in 1960:
Pounds of trash the average American generated in a day in 2008:
Percentage of U.S. municipal solid waste that was recycled in 1960:
Percentage of U.S. municipal solid waste that was recycled in 2008:
Percent increase in the amount of waste recycled in the U.S. between 1960 and 2008:
Number of aluminum cans Americans use each year:
65 billion*
Percentage of aluminum soda cans that were recycled in the U.S. in 2008:
48.2
Percentage less energy it takes to make a can from recycled aluminum than to produce a new one from virgin materials:
90
Number of plastic bottles Americans throw away in an hour:
2.5 million
Number of years it’s estimated it will take for a plastic bottle to degrade in a landfill:
Pieces of plastic the UN Environment Program estimates float in every square mile of ocean (2006):
Number of plastic bags found in the stomach of a gray whale that beached near Seattle in April 2010:
Percentage of the world population that lives in the U.S.:
5
Percentage of the world’s timber and paper resources Americans consume:
33
Pounds of paper the average American uses every year (2002):
Pounds of paper the average South American uses every year (2002):
Pounds of paper the average African uses every year (2002):
Percentage of American paper waste that’s recycled (2008):
Click on the hyperlinks to see sources for statistics. *All other statistics were compiled by the Clean Air Council.
This is part of a series: Snapshots of America. Part one was A Snapshot of Car-Usage in America and part two was A Snapshot of Education in America.
That’s a whole lot of consumption and a whole lot of waste! We’re trying to do our part to keep it down. Too bad there’s no way to track pounds of paper composted.
Thanks for commenting. I know, it’s baffling how very much trash we Americans generate. We’re also trying to keep our consumption down, and I’m even more inspired to do so after tracking down these stats.
I always find these stats astounding. Hubby and I are able to recycle just about everything. We’ve estimated that we each produce about 2 lbs of trash per week and most of that is from bags that can’t be recycled (bags inside of cereal boxes, etc.). While that’s really good, there’s significant room for improvement. We’d really like to use reusable containers for takeaway meals, but absolutely no restaurant/grocery store in town will use them. The end result is that they end up missing out on our business. We keep bringing it up to store managers and we get shoulder shrugs in response. We’ll keep trying, though.
Btw, found your blog via Relaxshax.
Thanks for your comment. We’re thinking about measuring our garbage waste just to see how much we’re generating. We compost and recycle, but I know we have room for improvement too. It’s amazing how just looking at the numbers can inspire change.
That’s so interesting that restaurants won’t fill your reusable containers. We don’t get a lot of take-out these days, but I’ve thought about asking next time we do. At least you’re showing the managers there’s desire for greener packaging or none at all.
Need less!