Did you know that every person in the United States produces about 4 pounds of trash...a day? About 80 percent of the 1,200 pounds of garbage each of us throws away each year ends up in dumps or landfills. Half of the remaining 20 percent is recycled. A bad thing about using landfills is that we are running out of landfill space! More than half of the nation’s landfills will be full in less than 10 years!
A good place to put certain waste items is in the recycling center. There they recycle our recyclable trash and change it into something someone can use.
Some wastes are hazardous, which means they are very dangerous - to people, animals, and the environment. some hazardous wastes are:
* Flammable materials
* Acids
* Reactive materials
These wastes must be treated very carefully after being thrown out or they can endanger the lives of the people, plants and animals nearby! Most waste that kids throw out is non-hazardous. Some non-hazardous wastes are:
* Foods
* Paper products
* Cans
* Water-based paints