Waste Reduction Facts

These facts are provided by the Minnesota Office of Environmental Assistance.

Day 1 - Reduce Day
North American's have 8% of the world's population but produce 50% of the world's garbage.

Half of the paper that America consumes is used to wrap and decorate consumer products.

It is going to take 465 trees to provide just you with a lifetime of paper.

Day 2 - Recycle Day
Modern landfills do not allow for air circulation. In the absence of oxygen there is little bacterial decomposition of organic materials.

Each ton of recycled office paper saves 480 gallons of oil.

Each minute 133,204 aluminum beverage cans are recycled.

The Minnesota recycling rate has climbed from nine percent in 1989 to 42 percent in 1994 - the highest total in the nation !

Dakota County's recycling rate has climbed from 29 percent in 1990 to 49 percent in 1995 !

Day 3 - Conservation Day
For Americans to water their lawns every week, it takes 540 billion gallons of water. That's enough to give every person in the world a shower for four days in a row!

Besides increasing garbage, the production and use of disposable products wastes raw materials and energy.

Of the world's water supply, only 0.6341 percent is fresh and found in a usable form, such as lakes, rivers and groundwater.

Every kilowatt-hour of lighting electricity not used prevents emissions of 15 pounds of carbon dioxide, 5.8 grams of sulfur dioxide, and 2.5 grams of nitrogen oxides.

We open our refrigerator almost 22 times a day. This equals 8,000 times per year.

Day 4 - Reuse Day
Glass is one of the most successful materials to reuse because it's 100% recyclable.

Making steel from recycled steel reduces energy consumption by 74 percent, air pollutants by 86 percent, water used by 40 percent, water pollutants by 76 present and mining wastes by 97 percent.

Rubber tires can be recycled by grinding them into small fragments, mixing them into hot asphalt and spraying this mix onto roads as a surface paving material.

It take 1,050 recycled milk jugs to make a six-foot plastic park bench

Day 5 - Pollution Prevention Day
Mercury emitted from industrial smoke stacks evaporates easily and travels long distances in the atmosphere. Mercury that falls into lakes in the form of acid rain accumulates in fish and builds up in the food chain as large fish eat smaller fish. A 22-inch Northern Pike weighing two pounds can have a mercury concentration as much as 225,000 times as high as the surrounding water.

Making aluminum from recycled aluminum reduces water consumption by 95 percent, energy use by 95 percent and air pollutants by 95 percent.

One gallon of gas can contaminate 750,000 gallons of drinking water.

Day 6 - Community Action Day
By 1993, three out of four Minnesotans had access to curbside recycling programs, and more than 1100 drop-off centers were available for recycling.

Half of the paper that America consumes is used to wrap and decorate consumer products.

Industry accounts for about 25% of solid wastes.

In one year, traffic congestion alone can waste 3 billion gallons of gasoline.

For every 10,000 tons of waste materials recycled, 32.6 jobs are supported, compared to only 6.46 jobs supported when this much waste is landfilled.

Day 7 - Stewardship Day
The impact of each individual on the environment is greater in the United States than anywhere else on Earth. One American uses as much energy as three Japanese, six Mexicans, 14 Chinese, 38 Indians, 168 Bangladeshi or 531 Ethiopians.

By the time a baby born today in the United States reaches age 75, they will have produced 52 tons of garbage (most of it non-biodegradable), consumed 43 million gallons of water and used 3,375 barrels of oil.

If all of Minnesota's waste generated annually, including recycling and yard waste, were packed in garbage trucks at the same time, a bumper-to-bumper line of garbage trucks would cover nine lanes of road from St. Paul to International Falls, a distance of 290 miles.

Making newspaper from recycled paper conserves two to three cubic yards of landfill space.