Estimated Decomposition
Rates
Sourrce : Penn State
The
numbers on these tables are scientists best estimates of decomposition
rates-The "chemistry" of decomposition of waste is complicated
-- very complicated. The rate of decomposition of various trash components
depends not only on what the component is, but what other materials the
component comes into contact with ( ex. water ,sunlight). For example, at
neutral pH (~7) aluminum is very stable, but at low pH (~3) or high pH
(~9) it decomposes rapidly.
Be aware that since many of today's
land fills are sealed, decomposition rates are very low due to the dry and
essentially oxygen free conditions in the land fills themselves. According to
New Scientist Magazine, plastic shopping bags are better in these conditions
than paper. The reasoning is that plastic takes up 1/10 the space of paper and
the paper takes so long to decompose that land fill volume is the critical
ecological factor.
| Paper: |
2-4
Weeks |
| Banana Peel: |
3-5
Weeks |
| Wool Cap: |
1
Year |
| Cigarette
Butt: |
2-5
Years |
| Disposable
Diaper: |
10-20
Years |
| Hard Plastic
Container: |
20-30
Years |
| Rubber Boot
Sole: |
50-80
Years |
| Tin Can: |
80-100
Years |
| Aluminum Can: |
200-400
Years |
| Plastic 6-pack
Holder: |
450
Years |
| Glass Bottles: |
unknown?
forever? |
| Styrofoam cup |
unknown?
forever? |
Source: U.S. Bureau of Land Management
The 3 R's
of Recycling
Reduce
Reuse
Recycle
Reducing waste does not mean you have to reduce what
you buy, it means shopping with the environment in mind. Consider the
environmental impact of each product before you buy it. Make a list of what
you need before you go shopping; this will reduce impulse buying.
Buy in Bulk!
Buy in
bulk. It is cheaper and eliminates small containers and excess packaging,
which accounts for 50 percent of our domestic trash. You have bought your
laundry soap like this for years. Think about what else you can buy in bulk!
Avoid buying throw aways that can’t be recycled. Remember, every time you make a purchase, you cast your
vote to protect the environment.
Paper
or Plastic?
Use Canvas!
Learning to reuse is easy and after a little practice,
it will become second nature. Here are some great ways to reuse our precious
resources. Reuse shopping bags or buy canvas bags and use them when you shop.
Buy durable high quality goods for a longer life outside the landfill. Although
durable goods may cost a little more at first, they will save you money and
help save the environment in the long run. Before throwing anything away, think about how each
item can be reused. Be sure to use both sides of a piece of paper before
recycling it. Donate clothing, furniture, and appliances to charity. Hospitals
and nursing homes often accept old magazines and schools reuse many items
in their art and theater classes. Almost all glass, plastic, and metal containers
can be reused for storage in the kitchen or the garage. Think before you
toss.
Reducing is the best way to protect the environment.
However, if you can’t reduce something, reuse it, and if you can’t
reuse it, recycle it. Recycling means collecting, processing, marketing,
and ultimately using materials that were once discarded.
Many different materials can be recycled. Among these
are aluminum cans, glass bottles and jars, plastics, tin cans, steel cans,
brass, copper, car batteries, computer paper, office paper, corrugated cardboard,
motor oil, scrap iron and steel, and tires.
Separate aluminum, steel and tin cans from other metals.
Wipe or lightly rinse all cans and make sure they are dry before recycling
them. Prepare newspapers by folding them into brown paper bags or bundle
with string into one foot stacks. Prepare glass by rinsing and removing metal
or plastic rims and lids. Break down corrugated cardboard boxes. Motor oil
should be collected in no larger than five gallon containers and be free
of contaminants.
What is in a computer?
On average a computer is 23%
plastic, 32% ferrous metals, 18% non-ferrous metals (lead, cadmium, antimony,
beryllium, chromium and mercury), 12% electronic boards (gold, palladium, silver
and platinum) and 15% glass. Only about 50% of the computer is recycled, the
rest is dumped. The toxicity of the waste is mostly due to the lead, mercury and
cadmium � non-recyclable components of a single computer may contain almost 2
kilograms of lead. Much of the plastic used contains flame retardants, which
makes it difficult to recycle.
Recycling
Facts
Americans use 2.5 million plastic bottles every
hour.
The world's largest human made structure is
the Fresh Kills Landfill on Staten Island in New York.
Americans generate over 180,000,000 tons of waste each year.
Recycling aluminum saves 95% of the energy used
to make the material from scratch. That means you can make 20 cans out of
recycled material with the same energy it takes to make one can out of new
material.
Each year, the United States discards enough
aluminum to completely rebuild the American commercial airline fleet and
enough steel to completely rebuild the cities of Chicago and New York.
Each of us generates on average 4.4 pounds of
waste per day per person.
Recycling all of your home's waste newsprint,
cardboard, glass, and metal can reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 850 pounds
a year.
It is estimated that 150 million computers will
be discarded in the United States alone, enough to fill a hole one acre in
area and 3.5 miles deep.
Every Sunday, the United States wastes nearly
90% of the recyclable newspapers. This wastes about 500,000 trees.
Only one percent of the world's water supply
is usable. 97 percent is contained in the oceans or seas and 2 percent is
found frozen in the polar caps.
Paper made from paper instead of virgin fiber
requires up to 70% less energy.
160 million tons of trash is produced each year
in the US. 80% is presently landfilled,10% burned, and a mere 10% is recycled.
1 ton of recycled paper saves 3700 pounds of
lumber and 24,000 gallons of water.
Incinerating 10,000 tons of waste creates 1
job, land filling the same amount creates 6 jobs, recycling the same 10,000
tons creates 36 jobs.
It takes 75,000 trees to print a Sunday Edition
of the New York Times.
We throw away enough diapers every year to stretch
from the Earth to the Moon 7 times.
Americans throw away enough office paper each
year to build a 12-foot-high wall of paper from New York to Los Angeles.
If everyone in the U.S. recycled just 1/10 of
their newsprint, we would save the estimated equivalent of about 25 million
trees a year.
Recycling just one aluminum can saves enough
energy to run a television for 3 hours.
Making glass from recycled materials cuts related
air pollution 20% and water pollution 50%.
About half of the nation's paper, 8% of the
steel, 75% of the glass, 40% of the aluminum, and 30% of the total plastics
output are used solely to wrap and decorate consumer products.
Most new toilets use about 1.8 gallons of water per
flush but- The "average" toilet in homes today probably uses about 3 or 4 gallons
A standard shower head uses about
2.2 gallons of water per minute.
Glass can be recycled
"infinitely many times"
and it never wears out.
Making glass from recycled materials reduces
related water pollution 50% and air pollution 20%.
Recycling steel and tin cans saves 74% of the
energy used to produce them from raw materials.
Sixty percent of the world's lead supply comes
form recycled car batteries.
Making cans from recycled aluminum cuts related
air pollution by 95%
The energy saved form one recycled aluminum
can will operate a television set for three hours or to light one 100 watt
bulb for 20 hours.
Recycling paper consumes 61% less water and
70% less energy then using Natural Resources.
Waste paper accounts for about 40% of our solid
waste
Credit: EPA,
Penn State University
