A Slower Economy Means Less Trash in Landfills

Reader Contribution by Staff

It’s no news that millions of people are tightening their belts during the recession, but what is news is one unintended silver lining. As people are buying less in general — and are repairing or refurbishing what they already have rather than running out for replacement items — landfills around the United States are seeing a significant decrease in volume. According to the Washington Post, some landfills are showing declines as large as 30 percent! Even when repair isn’t an option, many people are turning to sites such as Freecycle for their shopping — and every toaster or mattress found at Freecycle means, yet again, one less product for the dump pile. Freecycle alone has gained up to 70,000 new members a week since last fall. Recession or no, less waste is certainly something to be excited about. Now hopefully we can remember the mantra of “Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, Repair” even after we’ve worked our way back into black.

You can find out more in the full article, A Trashed Economy Foretold.

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