Some Pretty Funky Stats a.k.a. Read and Learn
This project is all about education and sometimes stats are a good way
to learn, so here are some interesting stats for YOU to consider.
Garbage
In 2002, a plan called Task Force 2010 wanted to eliminate all of our
garbage by 2010. This would mean 100%
diversion. At that time, we were
generating over 920 000 tonnes of waste per year in Toronto.
In 2007, Toronto collected 497 809 tonnes of garbage and diverted 367
291 tonnes of garbage. That was 42%
diversion. A nice improvement but we’re not going to make
100% by 2010. Wonder why? Well check this out!
o Single family homes made generated 226 787 tonnes of waste
and diverted 326 313 tonnes of waste for a
diversion rate of 59%.
o Multi residential homes generated 271 022 tonnes of waste
and only diverted 40 978 tonnes of waste. That’s a
diversion rate of only 13%.
o Now consider this, 51% of Toronto live in multi residential
homes (apartments, condos, etc). Guess where help
is needed? It will start with Green bins.
Here’s a fun one: In the city of Toronto, 350 million coffee cups are
used every year. Where do you think those
cups should go? In the recycling? In the green bin? In the
garbage. Sadly, we have no idea. Everyone keeps giving
us different answers. Help! 350 million cups need to go in
the right place!!
Some more garbage stats
Toronto ships 75 tractor trailers of garbage a day to Michigan which is
over 800 km away. Think of all that diesel
fuel being used to ship garbage. Here’s an idea… Make less
garbage!
1 billion pop cans ended up being lost last year. Lost means that
instead of getting into the recycling bin, they
ended up in the garbage. Did you know that Ontario is one of
only two provinces that doesn’t charge a deposit on
ALL drink containers. The beer store charges a deposit on
beer bottles and guess how many they get back –
close to 98% Why don’t we do this with ALL drinks in Ontario?
Oh government, where are you?
There’s a group called Stewardship Ontario. They charge companies for
the packaging they use. If your packaging
is going to end up in the garbage, you get charged more. This
is a great idea since it will force businesses to try
and be more environmentally friendly. The only problem we can
see is that a lot of companies are still over
packaging. Maybe higher charges are needed for packaging
that’s going in the garbage.
Lastly, (we could go on for ever), remember zero waste is a complex
issue: Here’s an example. A few years ago,
the big push was to get rid of Styrofoam. Now however,
Styrofoam is being recycled. There wasn’t a market before
to recycle Styrofoam, now there is. Learn the issues and
educate yourself and keep in mind that yes recycling is
good but it still uses up oil and natural gas. The best way
to zero waste is to reduce what you use! Go ahead keep
surfing our site. We guarantee you’ll like it or your money
back!
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