The only two man-made structures that can be seen from outer space are the Great Wall of China and the Fresh Kills landfill in Staten Island.

Landfills are now filling up at a higher rate then ever before. From 1979 to 1995, the number of landfills decreased by 84% and the amount of trash created increased by 80%.

Every hour, Americans throw away 2.5 million plastic bottles, 90% of which will end up in the landfills and contribute to the CO2 in the atmosphere.

Every year we fill enough garbage trucks to form a line that would stretch from the earth, halfway to the moon.

If only 100,000 people stopped their junk mail, we could save up to 150,000 trees annually. If a million people did this, we could save up to a million and a half trees.

Each year Marylanders throw away enough trash to build a wall 3 feet wide and 6 feet tall that is 4,287 miles long.

The 36 billion aluminum cans landfilled last year had a scrap value of more than $600 million.

Different types of rubbish take varying amounts of time to properly decompose. Top of the offenders are Styrofoam and plastic containers, which take one million years to fully decompose. A disposable (spot the irony in the name) diaper takes 550 years and an aluminum can takes between 200-500 years. At the other end of the scale, a wool sock takes one year and a paper bag one month to decompose.

For more recycling facts, please visit:

Oberlin College

Just Live Greener

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