Fast Facts: Nov. 16
November 16, 2010
- Oscar the Grouch, the icky green Sesame Street character who makes his home in a garbage can, was originally orange.
- The garbage generated by the United States each year includes up to 20 billion disposable diapers.
- From 1970 to 1995, the amount of garbage in the United States increased about 80 percent, while the number of landfills in the nation decreased by the same level.
- Estimates reveal that as much as one quarter of the food produced in America annually is lost to spoilage or non-use.
- Per the Ocean Conservancy, nearly 30 percent of the garbage in the world’s oceans consists of remnants of cigarettes (mostly the filters).
- On average, more than 1,500 pounds of trash is generated annually by every man, woman and child in the United States.
