Is The United States A Wasteful Society?

we’re wasteful. In order to find solutions for our trash problem, we must first admit that we are

The issue is that the U.S. uses a ton of resources and if people tried to not be as wasteful, the statistics of resources used in America would decrease dramatically. Bryson says in his essay, “With just 5 percent of the world’s population, we consume 20 percent of its resources.” For example, in the article by Scientific American, Dave Tilford

A teacher once told me, “One mans trash is another mans treasure, what he doesn’t appreciate the next man will.” Until recently analyzing this statement I always pondered about it as a metaphor using the thoughts, and ideas of people, but after reading Garbology I have come up with a literal process of reusing trash. On average Americans wastes 220 million tons of waste generated each year in the United States which ends up in one of the over 3,500 landfills. According to Edward Humes, the author of Garbology, “Garbage has become one the most accurate measures of prosperity in the twenty-first-century America and the world,” which proves that trash is a means to improving the success rate of Americans. This reminds me of the words of Confucius who stated, “When a goal cannot be reached, don’t adjust the goal, adjust the action step” because with the knowledge from garbology we can

There are different ways people in the United States waste a lot of natural resources. For instance, just like Allen Billington claims, “We are wasteful people.” News programs and print newspapers show that in fact Americans are the greatest consumers of all. Every year trees around the world are cut down specifically for U.S. different purposes. Such as construction of houses, buildings, furniture, educational supplies, books, pencil and paper. Also, California is experiencing a drought, and some people knowing is becoming very scarce keep on wasting it. These are some of the causes on how people waste so much water, is either by taking long showers, washing their car, washing their hands, laundry and irrigation. In the news they say that the number one use of water in California is through irrigation. Lastly is the way we are destroying little by little the air we breathe through the pollution of cars, refineries, deforestation of fires and factories. All of these aspects have a negative effect on the change of the climate. The three different ways people in the United States are wasting natural resources is from cutting down of trees, the consumption of water in excessively amounts and lastly polluting the air we breathe.

I believe that the United State as a whole is very wasteful and does not see how high the standard of living is compared to other countries across the world. We feel that we run the world and we can do whatever we want with the items we have and if we do not have a need for an object we just toss it in the trash and get a new item. While in other places across the world they will recycle everything and make sure to only waste ideas that truly can not serve a purpose anymore. Now yes the United State does need more energy and resources than most countries as we produce a large number of good and have a large number of people who depend on energy everyday which is why we use more energy. The fact we need more energy is not the problem the problem

Imagine a world cluttered with trash, once beautiful beaches and parks now overflowing with garbage. Roads no longer driveable, air no longer clean. Masks will be worn, and disease is on the rise. Now, imagine if you could have prevented this. I believe recycling is the first step. As of 2006 America is in the lead for producing the most waste, producing 236 million tons annually. Not only are we producing the most waste but by 2100 scientists estimate the amount will triple which will have serious effects on the Earth. Both physical effects and fiscal which means public services and government budgets will be impacted. Our planet is already feeling the effects of pollution at the rate we're going we won't be able to stop the damage nor repair

It is all of our duty to eliminate waste. From the farmers to the consumers. I believe we should find more ways to help eliminate how much we waste. Somehow we need to make the nation and world conscious of the decisions they're making and how it impacts Earth. Most people probably don’t realize how they’re contributing to our waste problem when they throw out the leftovers from last

Recycling is one of the most common ways to keep America clean. The recycling bins are one of the most recognizable logos across the world. People all across the U.S. have recycling bins, inside of their household. The sad thing is most people do not use them, they most of the time just throw stuff in the regular trash that could be recycled. For example, plastic, paper, cans, glass, cardboard, and even computer hardware (www.recycleacrossamerica.org). People don’t realize that they could be doing the world a big favor, just by recycling these everyday items.

Landfills are filling up with more and more trash every day and are expanding. Just by separating our trash everyday into plastics, cardboard/paper, cans, etc., we can minimize what we put in the landfills. Even if recycling was mandatory, I think this would help a lot. I spent some time in Germany and was able to participate in recycling more in depth. They recycle almost everything and have strict trash rules. Food that was not consumed goes in one small bin and cans, boxes, paper, etc., were sorted into separate bins as well. If you had something that was not in the proper bin or if your trash bag had something that could be recycled they do not take the trash that day. Some of the food that was not consumed was buried, the cardboard/paper, etc., was sent out to be recycled and reused. All of this helps keep Germany green and clean. Maybe we should follow in Germany’s footsteps to help keep our landfills clean of items that can be recycled and used again. According to the United States Environmental Protection Agency, in 2006, only 32% of the trash that was picked up was recycled in the United States. This leaves 68% of trash that is still going to the landfills and not being recycled. Although this recycling average is low, The Environmental Protection Agency hoped by 2019 the recycle percentage would reach 75%. The amount of trash that one person generates is astonishing. According to the EPA from Green Waste, in a single day 4.5 pounds is thrown out, which is about 1.5 tons of solid waste a year per person. The EPA estimates that 75% of solid waste is recyclable, but 30% is actually being

America currently has a growing population of over 300 million people. Every day the average American produced 4.4 pounds of garbage. As a nation Americans produced over 200 million tons of waste in 2013. Only 34.4 percent of that waste was recovered. Over 65 percent of that garbage is left to rot and pollute the environment. Many other countries face the same epidemic. There are many ways Americans can reduce pollution and keep our planet cleaner, one for those ways for instance is recycling. Recycling defined is to treat or process used or waste materials, to make suitable for reuse. The process starts by knowing what to recycle and how. Understanding the effects and benefits of reprocessing can persuade people to make

The United States produces roughly 250 million tons of solid waste, or garbage, on an annual basis. This number equates to 4.4 pounds of solid waste created by every American on a daily basis (Miller, Meindl, & Caradine, 2016). The recycling rate in the U.S. is around 35%, meaning over 165 million tons of waste is placed in the nation’s landfills or incinerated each year (Mozo-Reyes, Jambeck, Reeves, & Johnsen, 2015). Landfilling recyclables contributes to a greater strain on global resources because materials that may have been reused must now be replaced (Miller, et.al. 2016). Landfilling waste also contributes to air pollution through the release of methane (Delkash, Zhou, and Singh, 2016) and poses threats to groundwater near landfills (Talalaj & Biedka, 2016). As the population of the nation (and the world) increases, strategies must be found to reuse resources rather than simply disposing of them.

Making America great again has never been more of a challenge. We need to make America green again. “…over the last five decades as states have implemented requirements and consumers have become more aware, the U.S. is way behind leading European countries” (Lacey). America is one of the largest producers of waste in the world. With this we should be figuring out new ways in which to recycle and reuse different compounds and materials to ensure a better future.

Americans make more than 200 million tons of garbage each year, enough to fill Busch Stadium from top to bottom twice a day, that’s over 1800 feet! according to Ballparks. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) estimates that 75% of the American waste stream is recyclable, but we only recycle about 30% of it says Do Something. With the invention of the virtually indestructible material well known as plastic, on top of the rapidly evolving technological world, and the extreme reduction of locations where landfills can be built, it’s hard to believe that 75% of the waste stream in America alone is recyclable, and yet only 30% of it is actually recycled. Recycling is a beneficial solution to many of our increasingly important environmental

Many of animals in our environment are being harmed from our wastes, like turtles in the sea being trapped on beer can plastic rings. Recycling wastes should be a thing that everyone does to prevent many things like this from happening. There are people out there who recycle everything they can, and there are those who can’t even bother to look if they’re throwing their trash in the right bin. People all over the world constantly debate whether recycling is or is not beneficial to the environment. With the climate changing rapidly and natural disasters becoming worse, people should be more aware of the dangers that global warming can bring. Even a little help can do good for the environment; we should help by recycling more. Those who recycle help reduce pollution caused by waste, save energy and create jobs for those in need.

People Need to Recycle In the United Sates, where the population is inflated every year. The amount of space for landfills decreases every day. The need for recycling should not be asked, it should just be done out of habit. Everyone in America needs to recycle, to help the lamdfill problem, help the environment, and help produce new products from recycled goods. In America there is about two-hundred and eight tons of residential and commercial trash generated a year, 4.3 pounds per person a day (Prichard 1A). This is an overwhelming amount of trashed produced yearly. When people recycle this number can be drastically cut. But many people do not practice and use