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Nationwide Waste Statistics
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Americans' total yearly waste would fill a convoy of garbage
trucks long enough to wrap around the Earth six times and reach halfway
to the moon. |
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Since 1950, people in the United States have used more
resources than any generation who ever lived before them. Each American
individual uses up 20 tons of basic raw materials annually |
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At the consumption level of the average American, at least
four additional planets worth of resources would be needed to support the
planet’s six billion inhabitant. |
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In a study done in 1996, Americans, who make up only five
percent
of the world's population, used nearly a third of its resources and produced
almost half of its hazardous waste. |
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By comparison, the average North American consumes ten
times as much as the acaerage person living in China and thirty times as
much as the average person living in India. |
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Nationwide Campus Waste Statistics
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The average college student produces 640 pounds of solid
waste each year, including 500 disposable cups and 320 pounds of paper.
It is estimated that this year 222 million tons of waste will be generated
by college students alone. |
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According to the most recent study available at Tufts University,
there is a significant spike in the university’s solid waste every April
and May, when students gear up to leave campus. In 1993, the university
registered as much as 50 tons more waste than the average 180 tons throughout
the year. |
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Campuses offering incentives for double-sided copying have
cut paper use and costs almost in half! |
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Implementing a recycling collection as infrequent as once
a week has diverted about 40% waste at the University of Colorado-Boulder. |
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Campuses offering reusable mugs and drink discounts have
seen disposable waste decrease by as much as 30%. |
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Pilot Program's Reduction Statistics:
Success at the University of Richmond
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The University of Richmond’s May 2000 Dump & Run project
raised $1200 for the Sierra Club. The material collected filled the University’s
gymnasium. |
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The University of Richmond Facilities department saw a
visible decrease in material entering the waste-stream between 1999 and
2000 as a direct result of the Dump & Run end-of semester cast-offs
program. It is estimated that material entering the waste stream during
the last two weeks of school was cut in half due to Dump & Run! |
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Post-sale donations to Goodwill Industries filled their
fifteen-foot truck 8 times! |