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Austen Andrews
Dr. Christopher
English 101
October 18th, 2015
Methods
In the creation of this paper many different sources were used. The first source looked at
waste audits from Clark College class HLTH 103. 12 females and 8 male students were asked to
record their waste, their families, or another individuals waste with how long it was used, what it
was, where it was disposed, and if it was disposed of properly. Also, the Clark County Waste
Stream site gave info on Clark Countys trash and just how much was actually trash and how
much was plastic or recyclables that didnt make it into the correct bin. An interview also took
place with the Director of Environmental Health and Safety named Rebecca Benson. Rebecca
gave us similar data from the EHS and its website on how much percent was trash here on
campus. Math 203 also graphed trash usage to display visually this information. Garbology
chapters 8, and 11 also gave me focus towards the findings of trash.
Findings
Health 203 gave us the results of student trash through a survey of themselves or their
families. Many students were shocked by the trash they were using compared to how much less
they thought they would produce. Students also found that a vast majority of their trash
production was everyday household items like paper towels. The HLTH 203 class gave us the

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data on what they were surprised on however, a lot didnt completely line up with their charts of
data.
Clark Countys waste stream data gave us data of our county as a whole in 2012. This
data gave us the percentage that food scraps make up 20% of our waste (2012 Waste Stream
Analysis for Clark County, Washington). However, after looking at the chart you also realize
that plastics are 13.7% a lot of this being recyclable as well, and also states that 14.6% was paper
which all could have been recyclable as well instead of thrown in the garbage. This is
shockingly similar in ratios to another source of data we got.
The interview with Rebecca Benson, the Environmental Health and Safety director and
the EHS data she shared gave us an idea of the problem here on the Clark College Campus.
Rebecca explained that the data here on campus was very similar to that of the county on waste
percentages. Rebecca also further explained Clarks situation and we brainstormed ideas to help
people with their waste disposing habits.
Math 203 shared graphs with us to display this data so we could visualize and compare.
Math 203s graphs were very helpful in putting the information into a visible forum for us to see.
From the Math 203 charts we can also see visually the data on the amount of product properly
disposed. In this graph 25 % said no on a product being properly disposed and 14% said they
werent sure (Math 203 Graphs). Garbology by Edward Humes Chapters 8 and 11 also showed
us how wasteful our home town is of Portland and how waste is being dealt with in places
around us.

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Analysis
Based on the information given to us we can tell that people are not recycling what
should be recycled or disposing of it properly. This is either from lack of knowledge or just
being too lazy to dispose of something correctly. This information really goes with what Humes
says in the book Garbology throughout its chapters.
Waste audits from the HLTH 103 class of Clark College show that people used more
trash than they originally thought. The first problem with our current trash problem is currently
this idea. If eyes are opened up or a summary of trash for the year is given to the person maybe
it would help people realize what is happening around them. The second problem with our trash
is we dont know how to dispose of it properly. 39% of items in the Garbage audits from HLTH
203 were marked as no on properly disposed section or I dont know (HLTH 203). Rebecca
Benson also showed that education should be done because some people just might not know of
what is the proper disposal for many items. The idea Rebecca Benson gave us goes hand in hand
with the waste audit results. In the interview; brainstorming was done on how to get people to
dispose of products correctly. Pictures or labels on recycle bins stating what goes in each:
compost, recycle, and garbage here on campus could have an effect on whats being thrown away
in each. Some people may just not have an idea of where things should go. The Clark County
Waste Stream data also confirms this by showing how 21% of trash was recyclable or Compost
and not really trash (2012 Waste Stream Analysis for Clark County, Washington.).
With 1/5th of the items that shouldnt be in the trash bin but rather the recycle or compost
going into the trash we see we have a major problem. This confirms Humess info about people
creating more trash and us living in a garbage nightmare and not being able to dispose of things
properly. In chapter 8 Food waste was rampant, though that wasnt news (Humes 164). Food

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waste is a major problem within our current garbage system. This confirms the fact we have a
major problem as there are people on the world starving but we could be wasting as much food
as we eat. such as the proliferation of phone books, most of which are unwanted and, to this
day, mostly get landfilled instead of recycled (Humes 161). This quote really shows through
Humess data that people dont know how to recycle and that it needs to be taught. America fails
to educate its citizens towards proper disposal. Humes also compares Portland and a city named
Copenhagen. The results show that Portland had more than the average trash per person than the
average Oregon citizen (Humes 249). However, Portland citizens specialized in recycling
programs and biking places instead of driving by car. This city still had a trash problem. Which
really goes to show that education may be needed to take the next step with our trash problem
here in America.

Conclusion
The data was very similar across the board with how garbage that could have been
recycled is being thrown away daily. Garbage data showed that a big portion of our trash was
really not trash but could rather be recyclable. This really shows the need for signs on all bins
like recycle bins and trash bins so people know what trash goes where. This could be the first
step in fixing our trash problem. A trash summary could also be given by Waste Connections by
showing trash amounts and having Recyclables that were thrown away highlighted in red so
people know theyre doing it even if the data given is county wide. Many of the students in
Health 103 lacked the knowledge of just how much they threw away which is why a summary
would be helpful to educate citizens in our area.

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Works Cited

2012 Waste Stream Analysis for Clark County, Washington.

http://www.clark.wa.gov/recycle/documents/2012FinalWasteStreamAnalysisRepo

rt.pdf. Green Solutions, Enviornmental Practices LLC. December, 2012.

Sustainability Data. http://www.clark.edu/clark-andcommunity/risk_management/ehs/sustainability/index.php. Enviornmental Health

and Saftey Department of Clark College.

Humes, Edward. Garbology: Our Dirty Love Affair With Trash. New York: Avery,

2012.
Math 203 Graphs. MATH 203 Class of Clark College. October 26, 2015.