Spring Cleaning – Earth Scale

Spring is slowly creeping up upon us and with it comes the hidden “treasures” that winter has covered up.  These treasures range from a whole assortment of garbage and recyclable objects.  Now just like the spring cleaning one embarks on inside one’s home, outside the home is no different.  It is time to get your clean on, Earth scale. 
In the United States, the average individual produces around 2 kg of garbage a day, equating to around 725 kg for the year (Environmental Protection Agency 2014). Canada’s annual per capita total is slightly higher with 729 kg of waste generated (Giroux Environmental Consulting 2014).
According to another source, in 1940, Canada’s estimated waste generation rate was 300 kg/capita, in 2010; it was almost 1,000 kg/capita (Van der Werf & Cant 2012).  Canada secured the worst ranking (17th) in waste generation of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries. In 2010, that meant 25 million tonnes of non-hazardous waste was disposed (Giroux Environmental Consulting 2014).  Whatever the exact numbers for waste generation are is not the point; the point is that it is increasing and having devastating effects on the environment.