Americans Are Wasteful People

Americans are wasteful people
How much do Americans waste? What a good question. Americans generate 30% of the world’s garbage. Americans waste many different things over 10 years. However, the government is taking measures to fix the problem, and Americans are contributing to reduce this problem. The wastefulness of the population is a major problem in USA.
A wasteful person is one who is inclined to waste. Thus, recycling is not part of their daily routine. A wasteful person is characterized by useless consumption. Americans have become increasingly wasteful since mid-1990s. In the 1990s, the American population was wasting significantly high amounts of several goods, and no one was recycling. In 1990, less than 2% of America total waste was recycled. Americans were annually wasting 130 million dollars of energy and 165 million dollars of food. In addition, each American wasted an average of 2.3 million liters of water per year.
The most dangerous items wasted by America are: water, paper, energy, glass, food and plastic. For example, by not turning off the water while showering, Americans wasted 130 million dollars of energy and over 2 million liters of water. Americans often left their lights on when not needed. Trees were being unnecessarily destroyed to produce paper because only about one third of the paper produced was being recycled, and only to 37% of glass and 7% of plastic were recycled. Thus, resources were wasted unnecessarily.
America started facing this big problem. Of course, the government wanted to reverse the problem and implemented measures. These measures were implemented to promote everyone to recycle. Recyclable trash receptacles were put all over the cities. TV and posters advertisements were made to encourage everyone to recycle. Investments in the recycle industry increased. Resources that were not recyclable were used to produce final goods and were replaced with recyclable goods. For instance, pickles used to be sold in jars; however, now there are sold in plastic jars. Other measures are going to be implemented; however, the ones already implemented are solving the problem.
As Americans started to see these measures being implemented, they were really encouraged. Americans started to be less wasteful. Home-recycling increased, and energy consumption decreased. For instance, those unnecessary lights were turned off. Useless water consumption decreased, so Americans had water running only when needed. Although many actions are needed, 77% of all Americans are now recycling. The government measures were successful, and certainly waste will decrease as time goes by. The environment is clearly better. Americans are wasteful people, however they are wasting less.