Down in the Dumps

“Navigating Sustainability in a Throwaway Culture”

H ow much waste do you think we produce each day?

The short answer is: A lot.

The average person throws out about 0.7 kilos of garbage daily. Combining every human on this planet, that’s about 6 billion kilograms per day. And that’s just from our households. When you take corporations into account, the total amount of waste generated by us humans total up to 2 trillion kilograms of waste every year.

If you loaded all that waste into trucks and lined them up, they would go around the world 24 times. But doing that would actually take up quite a bit of space, so now the question is:

Where does it all really go?

Well, this time the answer’s a lot longer.

I’m sure most of us are aware about the plastic pollution choking our oceans and greenhouse gases destroying our ice caps– it’s no secret that the consequences of our throwaway culture are catching up to us. We’re wasting resources much faster than we’re replenishing them, which is why conversations about sustainability are sprouting worldwide in a ‘race against the clock’ for our planet’s survival. Managing all this waste is one of the first steps we can take to healing our planet– but you’re probably wondering how we could possibly begin to tackle the trillions of kilos of trash that we churn out every year. The solution lies, well, down in the dumps.

Among the biggest culprits in current waste production is e-waste. It's been exploding in recent years as a by-product of all the technological advancements we've been making. If you've ever sat down after an impulsive house-cleaning session wondering what to do with those old dusty laptops or speakers, you're not alone. There’s a considerable scarcity of information out there about e-waste management and recycling, which is why roughly 50 billion tons of e-waste are irresponsibly disposed of each year, sold to dumps in developing countries or simply left in landfills. That’s where our mission at Cycle Trends factors in. We lead, encourage, and expand the responsible recycling of e-waste from industrial producers– basically, we’re there to lend a hand when manufacturers do their spring cleaning.

Our economy’s momentum is beginning to shift towards sustainability and zero waste, but making the full transition requires all of us to play our part. After all, when we’re down in the dumps, the only option left to go is pick up the pace and go up!