What is an average New York household’s impact on waste?
NYC is falling behind other major cities such as Seattle and San Francisco in terms of waste diversion. Each individual has the ability to properly dispose of materials to limit their impact on landfills and move towards a zero waste lifestyle. Greater regulation and education is necessary for New York to become a zero waste city.
Question: What is an average New York household’s impact on waste?
Members: Alesi Lanham, Isabel Laus, Sarane James, Shafali Gupta
Every day, the average household contributes 1990 lbs of trash per year to landfills. We wanted to explore why so much residential waste ends up in landfills yet found that only 18% of trash from homes are being recycled or diverted away. This is due to NYC’s unique population in which our high turnover rate and lack of proper recycling education, contributing to our city’s lack of unification towards zero waste. In order to reach our full potential, focusing on better and more comprehensive programs and education is essential.
