What is Waste?

a very full landfill  Waste is anything discarded, rejected, surplused, abandoned, or otherwise released into the environment in a manner or quantity that could have an impact on the environment. According to the National Solid Wastes Management Association (NSWMA), the United States has about 20 years of disposal capacity left in existing landfills. There are certain places; however, where space is already running out. Alaska, Connecticut, Delaware, North Carolina, New Hampshire, and Rhode Island all have less than five years capacity, and the northeastern part of the country in general has the least available space. When we throw things into the trash, we add to the amount of material going into these landfills. The more trash we can keep out of them, the longer we can make those landfills last.

These statistics may surprise you:

  • Every day Americans throw out enough trash to fill 63,000 garbage trucks.
  • The average American produces 100 garbage cans full, or 1,000 lbs of trash per year.
  • Each year we throw away the equivalent of 30 million trees in newspapers. Paper fibers can be recycled six or seven times before they begin to disintegrate. If every household in the United States reused one paper bag for one shopping trip, about 60,000 trees would be saved.
  • Every three months we throw away enough aluminum to rebuild every plane in every airline in America.
  • The 300 million rolls of fax paper we use each year is enough to go from the Earth to the moon 26 times.
  • It only takes 25 2-liter bottles to make a sweater.
  • Aluminum cans that are recycled today will be back on the grocery shelves in about 60-90 days.
  • The average household throws away 13,000 separate pieces of junk mail each year.
  • A modern glass bottle would take over 4,000 years or more to decompose - and even longer if it is in a landfill.
  • Americans use 2,500,000 plastic bottles every hour and throw away about 25,000,000,000 Styrofoam cups every year.
  • A single quart of motor oil, if disposed of improperly, can contaminate up to 2,000,000 gallons of fresh water.

Our local results are amazing!

In just ONE month 1,440,225 pounds of litter, debris, and bulky waste was collected by Keep Odessa Beautiful's team of volunteers during the Great American Cleanup. In addition, 96 miles of streets, roads, and highways were cleaned and 24 miles alongside railroad tracks were cleaned. Our local community was also benefited by 34 playgrounds or recreation areas that were built, cleaned, restored, or constructed during the event. To protect our citizens, 25 illegal dumpsites were also cleaned during the month.