TOGETHER, WE CAN
MAKE A DIFFERENCE
SMALL CHANGES IN BEHAVIOR CAN HAVE A BIG IMPACT ON OUR PLANET!
TENDED UPIN^
LANDFILLS
Million
tons
WHEN YOU THROW SOMETHING
AWAY. WHERE DOES IT GO?
262.4
MILLION TONS
OFTRASH
ft BUT IT DOESN'T HAVE TO #J
t
YOUCAN DRAMATICALLY
REDUCE THE AMOUNT OF TRASH
THAT IS THROWN AWAY BY
TAKING A FEW EASY STEPS:
RlpUfCES
BM AMOUNT
Gfi WAST#
YOU CREATE.
IIUVWU
WHEN POSSIBLE
RECYCLE
WHENEVER
POSSIBLE
RETHINK
THE MATERIALS
YOU
USE
Wand^ YOU ^
/those I 'THROW
AWAY
BY THINKING ABOUT WHAT WE'RE USING AND HOW
TO REDUCE THE WASTE WE PRODUCE, WE CAN HELP
CREATE A CLEANER, HEALTHIER ENVIRONMENT.
WHAT IS MUNICIPAL
SOLID WASTE (MSW)?
MSW DOES NOT^INCLUDE
INDUSTRIAL, HAZARDOUS,
OR CONSTRUCTION WAST
D®YOUKNOW?
ABOUT
76%
OFFOOD
ENDED UP IN ^
LANDFILLS
THAT
a i-i*
LD BE
»TED
O THBUMPACh o
RECYCLING HELPS TO CREATE CLEANER LAND,
AIR, AND WATER, AND BETTER HEALTH.
IN 2015, F
NATIONALLY,
WE RECYCLED
^ AND w
COMPOSTED
7 i»Lf©W ^
TONS OF MSW
RECYCLING AND COMPOSTING HELPS
SAVE NATURAL RESOURCES.
OVER THE LAST FEW DECADES,pf^: RfCYC^
FIVE TIMES AS
MUCH AS IN 1990.
L^0
THE TOTAL AMOUNT OF
r -.m
s-f
FROM 145.3
^MILLION II
LANDFILLS DROPPED
,
I
nHnni
AV\\T\V

1°1S
137.7	'
MILLION TONS
HOW YOU CAN HELP
• Shop for products made with recycled materials.
•	Buy refillable, reusable containers.
•	Bring reusable cloth or canvas bags to the grocery store.
•	Buy only what you need or what you know you will use
(applies to food as well).
•	Use reusable bags or recycle plastic bags and other
plastic films/wraps.
•	Ask to be removed from paper mailing lists*
•	Don't throw any thing away that can be reused or repaired.
•	For unwanted used electronics, try upgrading the device to
continue using it. Otherwise, donate or recycle it.
•	Print on both sides of paper (and use recycled paper)
or do. not print at afll ';
•	Compost yofit food scraps and yard waste.
MAKE A DIFFERENCE TODAY!
If we all take small steps every day to reduce the amount of waste we
produce, we can help protect the planet for generations to come.
For more information, visit www.epa.gov/recycle.
This information is based on data from EPA's Advancing Sustainable Materials Management:
united states	Facts and Figures 2015. For more information, visit
Environmental Protection
Agency

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