FAST FACTS ON CONSUMPTION & WASTE

 
The good news: Recycling rates are up!
Pounds recovered/person/year for recycling and 
composting of municipal solid waste 
1960          1996 
62               431

The bad news: We're creating 
more & more waste 
Pounds generated/person/year 
of municipal solid waste 
 
Material  1960  1996 
Paper and paperboard  332 602
Plastics  4 149
Textiles 19 58
Wood  34 82
TOTAL WASTE  978 1580

In spite of an increase in recycling rates, the per capita discard rate in 1996 was 25% higher than in 1960 (average total pounds discarded/ person in 1960 was 916; in 1996, it was 1,150) 
(Characterization of Municipal Solid Waste in the United States: 1997 Update, United States Environmental Protection Agency, p. 26,160- 161, and United States Bureau of the Census at http://www.npg.org . )

We have more stuff & we "need" more space

In 1970, the average sq. ft. of a newly constructed home was 1,500. In 1997, it was 43% larger at 2,150 sq.ft.
During that same time, the number of people living in each dwelling decreased by about 30% (Statistical Abstract of the United States 1998, No. 1200. Characteristics of New Privately Owned One-Family Houses Completed: 1970-1997, p. 718).

Saving for a rainy day is passe';
Spending on stuff is in
The average personal savings rate in the United States has plummeted from 8.5% in 1970 to 2.1% in 1997 and .5% in 1998. The 1998 rate is the lowest since 1933 when it was -2.1%. (American Savings Education Council www.asec-org/perssav.html and
U.S. Dept. Commerce 
www. bea.doc.gov/bea/glance. html)

America's high 
consumption lifestyle is now the world's vision of progress.
The gloomy statistics 
The United States, with less than 5% of the world's population, consumes 24% of the world's energy, 27% of the world's aluminum, and 21% of the world's beef.  U.S. residents own 32% of the world's motor vehicles. (Stuff: The Secret Lives of Everyday Things, John C. Ryan and Alan Thein Durning, p. 67-68)
Children: 
The next generation's consumers- and this generation's consumers
Children's spending is skyrocketing. In 1991, 4- to 12-year-olds spent $8.6 billion of their own money each year. By 1997, that soared to $24.4 billion ("Tapping the Three Kids' Markets", American Demographics, April 1998, James McNeal, p. 37-41). 
The kicker is ... happiness levels aren't rising with consumption levels.
In Western industrial nations, prosperity has been rising for a long time without a related increase in happiness, says David Francis of The Christian Science Monitor. "Britain, for example, is twice as rich as in 1960 and three times richer than after World War II. American living standards have also risen enormously. In surveys over the years, though, when Americans are asked about happiness levels - very happy, pretty happy, or not too happy - they don't show much change. Fewer said they were not too happy in 1990 than in 1972, and more said they are pretty happy. But the very happy group has shifted little." ("Money not the root of all happiness," The Christian Science Monitor, David Francis, December 15,1997). 

Click here to learn more about simple ways to educate about sustainable consumption & waste reduction.
Click here to go back to Waste Reduction:  Addressing the Overlooked "R" curriculum page.

For more information about the curriculum or to order a copy, contact:

Simple Living Initiatives
Center for Energy & Environmental Education
University of Northern Iowa
Cedar Falls, IA 50614-0293

ceee@cns.uni.edu . . . or . . . 319/273-2573