Song credit: It's the way that you make me feel - Steps

Why do We Need to Sort Garbage

In the U.S., the average person generates about 7 pounds of trash every day and over a ton of trash every year.   The amount of garbage we generate has tripled since the 1960s but most of that trash doesn’t need to end up in the landfill.  In fact, some estimates show that 75% of trash is actually recyclable but to recycle, we need to sort that garbage.

Landfill

Anything that goes into your garbage can usually ends up in the landfill.  There are more than 3,000 landfills in the U.S. and three times that many that have already filled up.   Landfills are also major producers of methane gas – a greenhouse gas that can be deadly when inhaled and presents a fire hazard or even a potential for explosion.

Food waste

Up to 25% of the food in the U.S. is thrown away, uneaten.  Whether it is due to preparing too much or buying too much, we throw out 21.5 million tons of food every year.  A lot of that food – even if spoiled - is a lot better in the compost pile than it is in the garbage can.  You get great fertilizer and don’t take up space in the landfill.

Carbon footprint

In addition to the methane produced by the landfill, sorting your garbage reduces your carbon footprint by other ways.  Recycling materials like paper, reduces the fuel and electricity needed to harvest, transport and process the wood – paper can be recycled up to 4 times.

Cost

Dealing with trash is costly and many communities spend more on trash processing than they do on fire protection, parks and libraries.  Sorting your garbage helps reduce the amount of trash that needs processing.  It also helps to keep the trash where it belongs so it doesn’t end up as litter.  This can reduce the amount of money your community spends on garbage services and even litter collection.