EG 372 – Written Analysis
Project Part 5
March 2, 2013

Do we have a throw-away society?
Who is impacted by the problem?
A throw-away society is one that ultimately affects every person on the Earth. However, the greatest impact is upon the developed, industrialized countries; as they are the greatest producers of products that may be discarded. This is not to say that less developed, non-industrialized countries are not affected also. These countries are also affected by polluted land and waterways. The polluted waterways are more of a health risk because of either a non-existent purification systems or inefficient systems.
The amount of trash that has been thrown away in the years since the Great Depression, will have an impact on the lives of everyone on Earth for generations to come, unless something is done to exponentially reduce our production of garbage.

What is the problem?
According to the United States Environmental Protection Agency’s website, in 2010 (the latest figures available), the United States alone created over 250 million tons of trash. An interesting fact; the total volume of solid (this includes construction, demolition and non-hazardous industrial) waste produced in the United States each year is equal to the weight of more than 5600 Nimitz Class aircraft carriers, or 247,000 U.S. Space Shuttles, or over 2.3 million Boeing 747 Jumbo Jets (Beck). In an August 2008, ABC Good Morning America report it was stated that there is a massive area of floating trash, comprising approximately 3.5 million tons of garbage, mostly plastic, floating in the Pacific Ocean. (Bonfils) Why does it exist (causes)? The problem of becoming a throw-away society is caused by approximately seven plus billion inhabitants of this planet. We produce much more product than can be conceivably used or consumed and the excess is discarded. On a daily