Most Americans contribute nearly 4.5 pounds of trash to a landfill each day. That’s a staggering 56 tons a year! 

All that garbage is a major environmental problem, since it’s smashed into cells, buried & turned into a toxic landmass that threatens land, air & water quality.

One of the biggest problems about landfills is that they’re running out of space. 

There is so much garbage in the world that a landfill in New York can be seen from space.

 

Another issue with landfills is toxic chemicals like methane. These harmful chemicals evaporate into the air & leak into the ground, which threatens the water supply. 

Additionally, processing garbage emits carbon, which has been scientifically linked to the depletion of the ozone layer & global warming.

 

The good news is that there are ways to reduce your personal contribution to landfills.

Putting some attention in this area means you’re being part of the solution rather than the problem.

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Diversion of food scraps from landfills offers the greatest quantity of in state GHG emissions reductions.

 

Food scraps are responsible for a large share of methane emissions generated by landfills, & while landfill emissions comprise only a small portion of life cycle emissions attributable to goods & food, they nonetheless represent a real opportunity for emissions reduction.

 

This is largely due to the large quantities of food that is wasted & sent to landfills.