The Garbage Crisis The world has changed a lot in the past century. From individually packaged food servings to disposable diapers, more garbage is generated now than ever before. The average American discards seven and a half pounds of garbage every day. This garbage, the solid waste stream, goes mostly to landfills, where it's compacted and buried. As the waste stream continues to grow, so will the pressures on our landfills, our resources, and our environment.
How Does Recycling Help? The more we all recycle, the less garbage ends up in our landfills! The things we recycle can be used to manufacture new products, which in turn, create jobs, use less energy and fewer natural resources, and keeps hazardous waste from harming our health and our community!
What Can I Do? There are many easy ways to reduce our growing garbage problem and protect our environment. Instead of throwing out valuable goods and packaging, think reuse and recycle. Lower waste and manufacturing costs, energy savings, and cleaner air and water are among the benefits we can all share. Our small actions can have a big impact. Collectively, if residents of DakotaCounty made even some of these changes, our waste problems could be kept in check:
Choose to purchase items with less packaging;
Buy recycled whenever possible;
Get off of junk mail lists;
Compost food waste;
Learn how to safely dispose of household hazardous products (cleaners, fertilizers, etc);
Reuse scrap paper and grocery bags;
And many more!
Additional Resources… Know what to do with stuff you don’t want anymore! Learn how to recycle more, how to incorporate waste reduction practices into your home and work environment, how to properly dispose of hazardous products, and where to get and give free stuff. The Green Guide was created to help citizens living in the Dakota County understand the urgent need to make environmentally responsible purchasing and disposal decisions. You’re in control. By changing buying and using habits, you can reduce the amount of your garbage. Keep up-to-date on recycling and reuse options. Find disposal information for that leftover latex paint or broken computer. Get help from the Green Guide.
