Americans throw away too much trash–about 4.5 pounds of trash per day! It’s not good for the Earth to have that much waste. Soon we’ll run out of space in our landfills for all the trash. Then what will the Earth look like when you’re an adult?

Here’s an experiment you can do with the help of your parents. Collect all the trash your family throws out for just one day…include everything…don’t forget the wrappers from the food you eat (even from lunch when you might be at school and your parents at work).

Now put the bag on the scale and weigh it. Take the total number of pounds of trash and divide it into the number of people in your house.

For example: If the trash weighs 15 pounds and there are three of you living in your house, divide 15 by 3. (15/3 = 5) That means that each family member threw away about 5 pounds of trash that day.

Does your family throw away more or less than the average American rate of 4.5 pounds per person? What could you do to lower that amount? Were there items in the trash that could be recycled? Discuss with your family ideas on how to reduce the amount of garbage your family throws into the landfill each week.

Advanced: If you want to get a better average for your family, do the “Trash Day” experiment for one whole week. Then add up the daily averages and divide by 7.


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