With the hectic lifestyle that the average person leads and the desire for disposable materials to expedite day to day tasks, our society has become very accustomed to generating trash. The problem that arises is that many people are not nearly as disciplined with their waste removal as is necessary to counteract their own waste creation.
It’s estimated that the average person generates over four pounds of garbage each and every day. Everything from grabbing a morning bagel and coffee from your local cafe, to simply blowing your nose with a tissue, all end up generating waste without us even realizing it. And thanks to the fast-paced lifestyles that the workplace demands of people, overlooking all of these small tasks that generate garbage can be very easy.
Every single one of these minor actions that can lead to waste will, over time, add up to substantial piles of trash. According to the United Nations Centre for Human Settlements, only approximately 25 to 55% of all waste generated in large cities ends up being collected by garbage pickup services and municipal authorities. The rest ends up on the roadside or lumped together on sidewalks.
While there is constantly litter being created and added to the stock piles, it still must be collected at some point. The trash removal costs just to collect litter amount to about $11.5 billion every year.
The really disappointing thing is the access people have to commercial garbage pickup services, even if they don’t realize it. The overwhelming majority of residents and establishments have some form of waste removal located in their area that can be found with some quick searching.
It is essentially unavoidable for people to generate some sort of waste. The important step one needs to take is ensuring that their trash ends up in the correct receptacle for their regular garbage pickup.
