Muncipal Solid Waste - Pearland vs the USA

Municipal Solid Waste in the United States: Facts and Figures | Municipal Solid Waste | Wastes | US EPA:

How do you compare to the average person in America?  Do you waste more? recycle more? divert more? compost more? In Pearland for the fiscal year 2012-2013 that ended September 2013 here is what an average month of recycling data looked like:

28565.5 Annual residential account billings

875 Annual commercial account billings

29440.5 Total account billings

24.58333333 Customer complaints received

229.1666667 Commodities recycled at curbside (in tons)

266.6666667 Green waste recycled at curbside (in tons)

495.8333333 Total recycled at curbside

2500 At-Your-Door total pounds HHW collected

43.75 At-Your-Door number of stops

5000 Solid Waste land filled (in tons)

28565.5 Households served

11.2425 Cost per tons collected 

Here in Pearland over the past 4 years our diversion rate has gone up and down but doesn't nearly approach the national average of 34.5% diversion.  Here is our diversion rate for curbside collections:

7.6% diversion FY 2010

8.3% diversion FY 2011

8.0% diversion FY 2012

9.0% diversion FY 2013

Here is our diversion rate combining curbside collections with what is collected at the Stella Roberts Recycling Center:

8.5% diversion FY 2010

9.2% diversion FY 2011

9.0% diversion FY 2012

10.0% diversion FY 2013

We are not doing as well as the national average.  We are diverting about 10% of our Solid Waste in Tons.  We need to be doing more!  Environmental education is one of our major focus areas.  There has to be more that Keep Pearland Beautiful can do to change the way people think about recycling.  BUT it can't be done by one or two people alone.  To change the way our community thinks about recycling the average person has to know what is recyclable, and they must understand the ultimate consequences of not recycling despite the fact that we won't realize those for many years to come.

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I still believe the key is to reach children...but given the difficulty of getting anything not testing related getting into our schools we need to be out where the children are reaching out to them!

Can you think of some ways to reach folks and make them understand the consequences of not recycling?  

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