Did you know that the number one item crowding our landfills is paper? This is hard to believe when you look at how thin a single sheet of paper is, but when you step back and look at how much paper we use every day, and then multiply that by a whole nation and 365 days, it's almost inconceivable. According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) website, "on average, it [paper] accounts for more than 40 percent of a landfill's contents...Newspapers alone can take up as much as 13 percent of the space in US landfills. Organic materials, including paper, do not easily biodegrade once they are disposed of in a landfill. Paper is many times more resistant to deterioration when compacted in a landfill than when it is in open contact with the atmosphere". The pie chart above shows the total waste generated, before recycling, in the U.S. in the year 2005. As you can see, paper leads the way with the highest percentage, 34.2%.
Just think for a second how much paper our society uses. Everyday a fat wad of newspaper is delivered to our front door; multiply that by 365 days, and then multiply that by the people in your neighborhood, our state, the nation...yah, it makes you wonder why we still wastes tons of paper every year printing newspapers when all of it is accessible online? Think about all the paper that's used to make textbooks and workbooks, which many are now accessible on CD's or online. Think about all the paper we print out during school, whether it be research, a homework assignment, or an essay. Think about how much paper we use during Christmas time, wrapping all of our gifts. Think about all the paper companies use for contracts, guidelines, presentations, and other modes of business.
The question that comes to mind is why is paper the leading item taking space in our landfills when it is one of the few items that are recyclable?
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