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Americans represent 5% of the world’s population, but generate 30% of the world’s garbage.
There are about one million plastic bags used every minute. Less than 1 percent of plastic bags are recycled each year. Recycling one ton of plastic bags costs $4,000. The recycled product can be sold for $32.
Americans throw away around 236 million tons of waste annually
- On average we use 168 plastic water bottles each per year.
- We spend on average $588.00 on water bottles each year
- It takes 700 years before plastic bottles start to decompose, and can take up to 1000 years to fully decompose
- Approximately 86% of plastic bottles aren’t recycled in USA.
- 46 percent of plastics float and it can drift for years before eventually concentrating in the ocean gyres.
- There are 5 major Gyres in the oceans worldwide.
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