College Living on Zero Waste

As population grows we are constantly asked the question of, how to manage our waste?  According to a study from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Americans disposed of 254 million tons of trash in 2013 (EPA, 2016).  The same study by the EPA showed that recycling and composting materials contributed to the decrease of 87.2 million tons from landfills, which is the same as removing around 39 million cars from the road and due to that decrease, 186 metric tons of carbon dioxide was not produced  (EPA, 2016). What this study doesn’t include is the trash that is discarded on the sides of roads, beaches, oceans, and other waterways that can harm wildlife and leach chemicals into the environment (Going Zero Waste). Due to the impact of trash on the environment a new movement called “The Zero Waste Movement” that aims to reduce waste produced so much that some people can fit their yearly trash in a mason jar.  Most daily products we use are produced to be disposed of, rather than reusable everyday products such as tupperware for storing food rather than saran wrap. The Zero Waste Movement even tries to reduce recycling because many containers or local recycling programs aren’t actually recycled into being used again (Going Zero Waste).  In this podcast I discuss how plausible a college student can contribute to the Zero Waste Movement.

Citations:

About Zero Waste. (n.d.). Retrieved January 28, 2018, from https://www.goingzerowaste.com/zero-waste-1/

11 Facts About Recycling. (n.d.). Retrieved February 18, 2018, from https://www.dosomething.org/us/facts/11-facts-about-recycling

Municipal Solid Waste. (2016, March 29). Retrieved January 28, 2018, from https://archive.epa.gov/epawaste/nonhaz/municipal/web/html/

Emily Shannon 6