Trash Journal

Student’s Name

Professor’s Name

Course

Date

Trash Journal

I dispose of most of the waste in the trashcans located in different places such as the class, dining hall, and field. The bins are strategically located all around campus to ensure that every person becomes aware of the need to dispose of the waste properly. Most of the waste is comprised of foods and drinks although it also includes stationary and other materials. Fast food containers, coffee cups, and water bottles were the most common type of trash that I disposed of. I only used recycling in situations where there were available bins for recycling. In the school, some of the containers are specifically marked for recycling, and I took advantage of this. The trash did consist of items that could be composted but I did not do any composting for the period.

There was an average of six coffee cups, nine water bottles, four fast food containers, several wads of paper, clips, and other such stationary, some food items, and other junk items. The college has a system for disposing of the food items that are sent for composting. Therefore, all the food items and other organic waste are placed in one place. I disposed of the coffee cups and water bottles in the same location because they were both plastics. I disposed of most of the stationary items in bins found all over campus. The bins are placed conveniently near the classrooms and halls. The school has a recycling program for plastics. Therefore, all the plastic generated within the institution is collected and set in one place. There are specific bins for this, thereby ensuring that there is no need for sorting once the trash is collected. I used most of the water bottles in the field during this time

If everyone would generate as much trash as I have in that period, I guess there would not be much trash. While I am aware that some people use little waste, I use relatively low amounts of trash, and I do not think that I contribute much garbage. If everyone in Iowa used as much trash as I have, more trash would be recycled, and the overall amount of garbage would be reduced. However, the amount of trash generated by 3 million people is a lot even if people are to reduce their overall consumption. In one year, this amount would be high, and there would be a need to ensure that it is managed well. Failure to do this would lead to negative environmental consequences.

If 3 million people were to consume the same trash I have over a 72-hour period, there would be a considerable amount of waste. The average number of trash items per day is 11. The number would result in 33 million trash items in a day for 3 million people, which is roughly the population in Iowa. Some people would use more trash, but others would use less. In the year, the amount would be higher as it would be 12,045 trash items in the year for 3million people and about 4,000 for me. If the entire population of 7 billion people generated the same kind of waste, it would result to over 77billion trash items in a day. This number is significantly high, as it means 28,105,000,000,000 or over 28 trillion trash items in one year.