RE: [greenyes] Trash the Holidays

["Reindl, John" <Reindl@no.address>]

While the reduction of consumption is at the top of the hierarchy, and the
tips for waste reduction are wonderful, I question the blanket statement of
the statistic that "Americans throw away 25% more trash during the
Thanksgiving to New Year's holiday period than at any other time of year".

I have been in the solid waste field for over 30 years, and the data that I
have seen from communities in my area over that time contradict this number.

As an example, in my own town of Madison, with a population of some 200,000,
here are the data for solid waste for 2001:

	Month		Tons

	Jan		1,650
	Feb		1,291
	March		1,496
	April		1,601
	May		1,929
	June		1,669
	July		1,740
	Aug		2,157
	Sept		1,593
	Oct		1,754
	Nov		1,714
	Dec		1,542

As seen, the highest months are August and May. The month of December is our
third lowest month for waste generation, and January is only a bit higher.

Years ago, the summer months were even higher with respect to other months,
before there was the composting of grass clippings and the recycling of
beverage containers. 

John Reindl, Recycling Manager
Dane County, WI 

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Karen.Hales@no.address [mailto:Karen.Hales@no.address]
> Sent: Thursday, December 04, 2003 1:46 PM
> To: p2assist@no.address; checcalert@no.address;
> greenyes@no.address
> Cc: bnwilliams@no.address
> Subject: [greenyes] Trash the Holidays
> 
> 
> Did you know that Americans throw away 25% more trash during the
> 
> Thanksgiving to New Year's holiday period than any other time 
> of year? 
> 
> This
> 
> amounts to 25 million tons of garbage, or about 1 million extra tons 
> 
> per
> 
> week. Get the word out on ways to help trim the trash while trimming 
> 
> the
> 
> tree. A few simple things you can do to reduce waste this holiday 
> 
> season:
> 
> 
> 
> 1. Give gifts that are what friends and family really want or need.
> 
> 2. Gift certificates or a donation to a favorite charity make great 
> 
> gifts
> 
> as well.
> 
> 3. Homemade food or something you’ve made yourself from reused items 
> 
> are
> 
> always great ideas.
> 
> 4. Instead of wrapping gifts for the kids, hide the presents, 
> and turn 
> 
> it
> 
> into a treasure hunt.
> 
> 5. Send holiday e-greetings to family, friends and business 
> associates 
> 
> who
> 
> are on-line.
> 
> 6. Wrap the gift in a gift: put cookies in a flower pot or 
> hide jewelry 
> 
> in
> 
> a new pair of gloves.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> This tip was sponsored by the 2004 CRA Conference - Staying on Track
> 
> Revving Up Recycling.  To find out more about the conference , to 
> 
> register,
> 
> or learn about the annual awards or sponsorship opportunities, visit 
> 
> our
> 
> Web site at www.cra-recycle.org.
> 
> 
> 
> ______________________________
> 
> Karen Hales
> 
> Recycling/Solid Waste Specialist
> 
> TOWN of CARY
> 
> 
> 
> 919-462-3873 voice
> 
> 919-469-4304 fax
> 
> karen.hales@no.address
> 
> http://www.townofcary.org
> 
> 
> 
> "Make everyday America Recycles Day!"
> 
> 
> 
>  Please Note
> Email addresses for everyone at the Town of Cary are now:
> first name <dot> last name at townofcary <dot> org.
> For example: John.Staffer@no.address
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
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