Question:

How much waste do we save by recycling each week at CHS?

Introduction:
Chapin High School entered a national recycling competition known as the Recycle Bowl.
Within the 5 weeks of competing Chapin recycled 72 cubic yards of commingled recyclables. 1
cubic yard is equivalent to 92 pounds. Each teacher at Chapin has their personal recycling bin
for their classroom. Once a week we take all of the recycling bins and take them out to the big
bins in the parking lot. Once a week the recycling company collects the recyclables from the
high school and takes them to the collection centers. Each teacher also has a couple of their own
trash cans in their room. The custodians collect the trash each night and take it to the trash bins in
the parking lot. The trash is collected by the trash company 4 times a week. Students at Chapin
High are encouraged to recycle what they believe will save the landfills from over filling. Chapin
recycles 24 cubic yards each week; which is equivalent to 2,208 pounds. 80 cubic yards of trash
is taken to the landfill each week from CHS; that is equivalent to 7,360 pounds of waste. If we
did not recycle at CHS we would be taking 104 cubic yards of waste to the landfills each week;
that is equivalent to 9,568 pounds of trash. By recycling at Chapin High School we are saving
2,208 pounds of recyclables from going into the waste stream each week.
Background:
Throughout the world America has been known as wasteful because of many reasons. As the
United States human population expands, the amount of land left decreases. There are hundreds
of recycling collection centers across America trying to help reduce the amount of space landfills
consume. In 2009, Americans recycled 82 million tons of materials. This meaning 82 million
tons of materials stayed out of the landfills. The recyclable materials in the U.S. waste stream

would generate over $7 billion if they were recycled. Thats equivalent to Donald Trumps net
worth. The waste steam is the complete flow of waste from domestic or industrial areas through
final disposal. The intervention of recycling may act to lessen the content of a waste stream as it
moves down the line. In 2009, almost 30 million tons of plastics were generated in the United
States, and only around 2 million tons were recovered. This being said, that means 28 million
tons of plastic went into the U.S. waste stream. Also in 2009, we filled United States landfills
with trash equivalent to the weight of 88 million cars, that is enough trash to circle the earth 24
times. Only 53.4 percent of all paper made is recycled in the U.S. On a national level, the United
States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) oversees a variety of waste issues. These include
regulation of hazardous wastes, landfill regulations, and setting recycling goals. More specific
recycling legislation is localized through city or state governments.
Materials/Methods:
To find the total amount of cubic yards recycled each week we went to Mr. Clark, Chapin's
Facilities Supervisor, he told us the area of each recycling and trash bin. He then told us how
many times a week the trash and recycling get taken to the landfill or collection centers. I
multiplied the area of the bins and the amount of times it gets taken each week. That gave me the
total amount of cubic yards that either get recycled or taken to the landfills. I added the two totals
together and came to the conclusion of: if we did not recycle at CHS we would be taking 104
cubic yards of waste to the landfills each week; that is equivalent to 9,568 pounds of trash.
Here are facts we used to help us calculate our totals:
We have 3 recycling bins at CHS
Each recycling bin has an area of 8 cubic yards.
We have 2 trash bins at CHS that are 8 cubic yards and 1 trash bin that is 4 cubic yards.

In total we have 24 cubic yards of recycling and 20 cubic yards of trash.

Trash gets taken to the landfill 4 times a week.
So 80 cubic yards of trash is taken from CHS to the landfill each week.
Recycling gets taken to the collection center once a week.
So 16 cubic yards get taken each week.
Without recycling 96 cubic yards of trash would be taken to the landfill each week.
Cites Used:
http://www.enviro-news.com/glossary/waste_stream.html
http://recycleacrossamerica.org/recycling-facts
http://www.epa.gov/epawaste/nonhaz/municipal/