The average Southlander recycles 115 kilograms of rubbish every year. But what difference are we actually making?
Recycling makes sense - it turns rubbish into useful products. Saving us money and reducing the amount of waste going to the Southland landfill. The figures at the top of this page show the resources Southlanders have saved this year by recycling. These figures are updated each month to celebrate how well we are doing.
The less rubbish we send to landfill, the longer the landfill will last. To calculate this 'space saving' we have worked out how many truck loads of rubbish we've stopped from going to landfill.
Using an average weight of 10 tonnes per load, we divide the tonnage recycled by 10.
For example: 487 tonnes of recycling divided by 10 equals 48 truck loads.
Research on the internet indicates that by recycling one tonne of paper we save 26,460 litres of water. Therefore by multiplying the tonnage of paper recycled by 26,460 we can calculated the litres of water we've saved by recycling.
For example: 173 tonnes of paper multiplied by 26,460 equals 4,577,580 litres of water.
Research on the internet indicates that:
(Please note that a drum is equals 200 litres.)
Therefore by multiplying the tonnage of each material by this accompanying figure, we can calculate the litres of oil that is saved.
For example: 32 tonnes of plastic multiplied by 27 equals 864 drums of oil saved.
Research on the internet indicates that either 17 or 24 trees are saved for each tonne of paper recycled. Using the conservative number of 17, we multiply 17 by the tonnes of paper and cardboard recycled.
For example: 41 tonnes of cardboard multiplied by 17 equals 697 trees saved.
There is no perfect way to collect or dispose of your dog's poop, however here are some ideas.
Send us your best waste minimisation tip and we'll post it here to share with everyone.