Did you know?

For every barrel of waste we set on the curb, 32 additional barrels have been created in those materials' production. Or, for every 100 tons of waste placed curbside, an additional 3,200 tons were generated. ~Elizabeth Royte, Garbage Land: On the Secret Trail of Trash

A child born in an American family will put a stress on the world's resources that is thirty times greater than a child born in a poor nation. ~ Paul Elrich, NBC's Today

People in the U.S. make up 5 percent of the world's population but use 25 percent of the world's resources and generate 30 percent of its garbage. ~ Susan Campbell, The Oregonian

The average American consumer uses nearly twenty tons of raw materials each year, twice that of the average Japanese or European. ~ David Morris, "As If Materials Mattered," The Amicus Journal

Thirty percent of municipal solid waste is made up of packaging. ~ Earthworks Group, Fifty Simple Things You can Do to Save the Earth

American consumers throw away 87 percent of goods after a single use. ~ David Morris, "As If Materials Mattered," The Amicus Journal

Recycling creates 36 jobs per 10,000 tons of material recycled compared to incineration (1 job/10,000 tons of waste) and landfilling (6 jobs/10,000 tons of waste). ~ The Institute for Local Self-Reliance

Glass takes more than one million years to decompose in a landfill. ~ California Department of Conservation

95% of energy is conserved by recycling aluminum, 85% is conserved by recycling copper, and 74% is conserved by recycling iron and steel. ~ Earth 911

Electronic waste accounts for 10 percent of the overall toxic waste currently found in landfills. ~ Earth 911