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Trash follows the laws of matter. It does not disappear. It is either stored or transformed—and our resources are finite

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The average American produces 4.9 pounds of trash per person per day. This adds up to approximately 292.4 million tons of municipal solid waste per year.

The disposal of this waste can have a range of negative impacts, from polluting air and water, adversely afffecting human health, and contributing to climate change.

While there have been efforts to reduce waste and increase recycling, there is still much work to be done to address this pressing issue.

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Since the EPA started collecting information on trash in 1960 the volume of our trash has not only grown, but it's composition has changed dramatically from more organic materials to more inorganic. Take a look below at the story of our trash.

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Below are the streams of waste estimated since 1960.

Landscape of American Waste

In 1960, the United States was already generating a substantial amount of waste.

The first Earth Day was held in 1970!

In the 1980s, total waste increased to 151 million tons per year.

In the 1990s, American trash contained a higher proportion of organic waste, such as food scraps and yard trimmings.

Plastics accounted for almost 12% of municipal solid waste generated in 2000.

In 2018, Americans generated more trash than ever at 4.9 lbs per person per day.

The flow of American trash continues to be a complex and multifaceted process, involving various stages of collection, transportation, and disposal. in 2018 alone, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the country generated over 292 million tons of municipal solid waste, with most of it being sent to landfills or incinerators for disposal.

Looking at the per person growth of daily trash production we have to understand that it's not just population growth...

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Human made out of trash over the course of 1 month

* approximately 179 pounds.

So, what are we doing with all of this waste? We continue to landfill about half of what we throw away, essentially storing it for eternity, and attempted to transform the other half either through recycling, composting, feeding excess food to animals and other food management practices.

Overall, the flow of American trash in 2018 demonstrated the ongoing challenges and opportunities associated with managing waste in a sustainable and responsible manner.

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So what that we store 50% of our waste in landfills? What does that mean about how prioritize space?

But why does it matter? Nothing composts in a landfill and the EPA has concluded that all landfills eventually will leak into the environment. In a landfill, which is an enviornment lacking of oxygen, our trash makes methane, a potent greenhouse gas much more powerful than CO2.

Landfills are the third-largest source of Methane emissions in the United States. Help reduce green house gas and keep things out of landfills.

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  • Reduce and refuse unnecesary packaging and single-use products when possible
  • Share (regift, buy used on Freecycle or Buy Nothing, let neighbors borrow tools)
  • Reduce Food Waste  and eat your leftovers (and those from restaurants) 
  • Reclaim energy through composting
  • Advocate for extended producer responsibility for products — require manufacturers of specialized items to operate and pay for recycling programs for them. 
  • Put pressure on companies to improve their packaging to product ratios. (Do you really want the box, or just the thing inside?)
  • Buy recycled when possible
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This is a capstone project for the MPS in Data Analytics & Visualization program at the Maryland Institute College of Art.