Name:_________________________________
APES GARBOLOGY LAB
INTRODUCTION:
The United States generates more solid waste, per capita, than any other country. Every man, woman, and
child in the U.S. produces an average of 4.5 pounds of solid waste per day. This amount corresponded to a
total of 262 million tons in 2015.
According to 2015 figures from the Environmental Protection Agency, of that 4.6 pounds of solid waste,
25.9% is paper, 13.3% is yard waste, 9.1% is metal, 4.4% is glass, 13.1% is plastic, 15.1% is food waste,
and 19.1% is miscellaneous materials. By analyzing your own household waste stream, you can see how
you compare.
Here are a few of the solid wastes U.S. consumers throw away:
• Enough aluminum to rebuild the country’s entire commercial airline fleet every 3 months.
• Enough tires each year to encircle the planet almost three times.
• About 18 billion disposable diapers per year, which if linked end to end would reach to the moon and
back seven times.
Like it or not, humans produce solid waste, and it is our responsibility to deal with our waste in safe, costeffective, and environmentally sensitive ways.
PURPOSE
• Students will collect all trash accumulated in a two-day period and see just how much municipal solid
waste they generate.
• Students will then calculate how their trash generated compares with the 2012 U.S. average.
MATERIALS
• Bathroom scale
• Large trash bags
• Rubber gloves
PROCEDURE
• Collect all of your trash for a two-day period.
• Do not throw “dirty” trash in your bag i.e. if you use toilet tissue (which I hope that you do!), just
count the number of squares you used and place this number of “clean and unused” tissue in your
bag.
• You must carry this bag with you at all times for the two-day period. If you are caught without
your trash, points will be deducted from your lab grade!
• Set up a data chart with the categories listed in the solid waste breakdown from above. To be accurate,
you must weigh your waste each day.
• For greater precision, place cardboard, magazines, and newspapers into a separate category from
other paper.
• If you currently recycle or compost any household waste, include the material in the weight
analysis, and then keep a separate column for items recycled. This line will serve as a credit on
your final garbage balance (so subtract this weight from your total garbage weight).
• Each day, separate your garbage into the various components to be weighed. Wear plastic or rubber
gloves.
• To minimize mess, store and weigh organic food waste in a plastic bags.
• Weigh other materials like cans, bottles, and plastic containers when they are empty and dry. You
can use a box to weigh them, but make sure that you subtract the box’s weight.
• After recording the data for your two-day period, add up the total weight for each category. Then add
up all the category subtotals to get the number of pounds of solid waste generated by you in two days
(multiply this by 15 to get the total for a one month period).
• Divide each category subtotal by the total weight of garbage produced to get the weight percent for
each category.
Name:_________________________________
•
•
If you do recycle or compost, divide the amount by the total amount produced to determine how
much you are saving.
Fill in the data chart and create a graph from your data
Data Calculations
-Divide each component category subtotal by the total mass of garbage produced to get the mass
percent for each category. Example: (mass glass/total mass) x 100 = mass percent for glass
-If you do recycle or compost, divide the amount by the total amount produced to determine how
much you are saving.
DATA CHART
Component
National Average
Your data
Your data
percent of mass
Lbs/day
percent of mass
Paper
25.9
Yard Waste
13.3
Metal
9.1
Glass
4.4
Plastic
13.1
Food
15.1
Miscellaneous
19.1
TOTAL
100
Name:_________________________________
QUESTIONS/ANALYSIS
1. How do your numbers compare with the national averages? What factors might account for
the differences?
2. How could your results be extrapolated to an annual mass? If you could keep track of your
garbage for a whole year which of the results would be more accurate? Why?
3. Are there any seasonal variations in waste generation? Give some examples.
4. Provide a bar graph that compares your waste amount to the national average. Also, if
available, average your classmates’ waste amounts for each category, and graph that as
well, so that you have three bars per Component.
5. Based on the bar graph, what conclusions can you make about your results, the average
results for your classmates, and the National Average?
6. What factors, beside season, might influence the outcome of this study?
7. How could you effectively reduce your household waste?